The two-time Olympic champion won the 25m Pistol Women event, coming back atop of an ISSF podium two years after her last World Cup victory in this event. Those athletes who had qualified in the lead for the final did not made it to the podium, leaving Silver and Bronze to Russia’s Klimova and Mongolia’s Tsogbadrah.
Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 Sport Pistol Olympic Champion Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria came back atop of an ISSF podium, winning today’s 25m Pistol Women final at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Fort Benning, USA.
The 37-year old Bulgarian athlete, who had won her last World Cup Gold medal in this event in 2008, claimed today’s Gold by climbing from the third place. Qualified with 585 points, she shot today’s highest final score, 207.0 points, moving up in the lead and eventually ending up in first place with a total score of 792.0 points.
Boosted by a Silver medal won in the 10m Air Pistol Women event five days ago, the Russian shooter Kira Klimova, ranked sixty-ninth in the world, followed Grozdeva on the podium, claiming Silver with a total score of 789.7 points. Qualified in third with 584 points, the 27-year old athlete climbed to the second place by shooting 205.7 points throughout the four final series, securing her first ISSF medal in this event.
It was Mongolia’s Munkzul Tsogbadrah who claimed today’s Bronze. The Mongolian athlete, ranked thirteenth in the world, climbed up from the sixth place by shooting 206.2 points in the final. The 29-year old shooter wore the Bronze with a total score of 789.2 points, coming back on an ISSF podium after missing since the 2008 World Cup stage in Milan.
Today’s turned out to be an unlucky final those shooters who had qualified in the lead. Kazakhstan’s Zauresh Baibussinova first with 587 points after the qualifications, scored 201.9 points during the final, ending up in fourth place with 788.9 points, just three tenths far from the podium. At the same time, the 2004 Olympic Silver medallist Lenka Maruskova of Czech Republic, who had qualified in second place with 586 points, sled down in the placements finishing her match in fifth place with 788.3 points.