It has been a great day for Germany today, as the Rifle shooters Lechner and Pfeilschifter gained two Olympic Quota Places for the host country of the 50th ISSF World Championship in all shooting events.
Lechner and Pfeilschifter climbed together upon today’s podium, in first and second place, securing the Gold and the Silver medal, and two Olympic passes for the 2012 London Games. The two athletes, born and grown here in Bavaria, shot their best match ever right in front of more than 1000 Bavarian paying spectators, that stood to give them the longer round of applause registered during this ISSF World Championship.
Barbara Lechner was the protagonist of this breathtaking match. The 27-year old soldier form Triftern made it to the final match with the highest qualification score, 589 points, which granted her four points of advantage on the follower, her teammate Pfeilschifter.
Lechner did not hesitate. Shot after shot, she kept her leadership, supported by the crowd of home spectators cheering for her, and eventually wore the Gold with a total score of 687.7 points (589 qualification points, plus 98.7 points in the final).
The Bavarian athlete had been looking for this title since eight years, as she had been entering two consecutive world championships’ final rounds, without finding her way to the podium. In 2002, competing at the ISSF World Championship of Lahti (FIN), she had places in fifth, just tenths far from the podium, while in 2006, competing at the last ISSF World Champ edition in Zagreb, she had closed in seventh place. This time, shooting for a medal in front of her people, she left no chances to her opponents.
Sonja Pfeilschifter, the 39-year old German record setter, secured the Silver, making of the 6th of August a memorable day for the German shooting team and for the Munich’s World Championship. The “shooter of the year 1998 and 1999” claimed the medal, and the second Olympic Quota place, with a total score of 685.4 points, recording today’s highest score in the final, 100.4 points.
The double success also worth some tears of Mr Claus-Dieter Roth, the German team’s rifle coach, who saw his team securing all four Olympic Quota places to be awarded 10-meter and the 50-meter rifle women events.
The Bronze medal went to Switzerland’s Annik Marguet, who finished on the third step of the podium with a total score of 681.2 (582+99.2) points. The 29-year old shooter of Cormerod also secured an Olympic Quota Place for the 2012 Games, becoming the first Swiss athlete qualified for the next Olympic Games “It’s simply great to be on this podium, and to grab an Olympic pass for my country – she said after the match – I am not automatically qualified, as the Quota goes to the country, but I will have to keep on fighting to secure a spot in the Swiss Olympic team!” The athlete, ranked 26th in the world, had placed in tenth at the last ISSF World Championship edition, in Zagreb, in 2010
The last two Olympic Quota Places went to Ukraine’s Natalia Kalnysh (fourth with 680.5 points) and to Jamie Bayerle, a top-ranked 26-year old rifle shooter form the Unites States of America, who placed in fifth with 679.9 points after an outstanding last shot of 10.7 points.