“I've got the Olympics in my sights, then I would like to have a second baby” said the winner, who equalled two World Record to win her third consecutive title. China’s Olympic hope Wei Ning won the shoot-off for Silver, leaving Bronze to USA’s Rhode.
The 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist, Germany’s Christine Wenzel won her third World Title at today’s Skeet Women Final at the 2011 ISSF Shotgun World Championship held in Belgrade, Serbia, from the 3rd to the 14th of September.
The 30-year old German shooter had won the 2007 and the 2009 World Championship editions held in Nicosia and Maribor. Since she did not participate in the 2010 World Champ in Munich, today’s was her third consecutive victory out of three participations.
“No secrets!” She said after today’s final. “I am training hard and I have the best possible coach: my husband Tino.”
“We will go at the next Games together: he just won an Olympic quota at the last European Championship held here in Belgrade, a few weeks ago.” Said Wenzel.
As it had happened in Nicosia four years ago, Wenzel finished on the highest step of the podium by equalling the current Final World Record: 98 hits.
Passing through the qualification with an almost perfect score of 74 hits (an equalled world record), she made it into the final in first place. Then, she hit 24 out of 25 targets in the final, landing on the highest step of the podium with one target of advantage on her followers.
“I missed in the double, at the fifth station. I wasted too much time on the first target, and when I tried to find the second one it was too late…” Christine said.
“Last year I did not participate in the World Championship in Munich as I was pregnant.” Explained the German champion, who then told us about her plans for the next future: “We are planning to have another baby after the Olympic Games. I will try hard to win a medal there, and then I will take some time off to fulfil my family dreams.”
CHINA Vs. USA: SHOOT-OFF FOR SILVER
China’s 2003 World Champion Wei Ning (29) and USA’s two-time Olympic Champ Kimberly Rhode (32) tied in second place with a total score of 97 hits, and met in a shoot-off to decide the Silver and the Bronze.
It was the fourth shoot-off pair to decide the podium placements, as Rhode missed her eighth target, placing in third with 97+7 hits, and leaving the Silver medal to Wei with 97+8 hits.
Following them, Cyprus’ Andri Eleftheriou finished in fourth place. After tying the current World Record of 74 hits out of 75 targets during the qualifications, the 27-year old shooter missed three targets in the final, closing with a total score of 96 hits. Thailand’s Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit (25) placed in fifth with 95 (72+23) hits, the same score of Italy’s Katiuscia Spada (29), today’s sixth.
TEAMS: CHINA ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD
The Chinese team led by the 2004 Olympic Silver medallist Wei Ning (Wei Ning, Zhang Shan and Zhang Donglian) finished atop of the Skeet Women teams’ ranking, with an overall score of 216 hits, setting a new World Record which shattered the previous 214-hit record (scored by the same team in 2007).
The teams’ Silver went to Italy, thanks to the finalist Katiuscia Spada, the 2008 Olympic Champion Chiara Cainero and their teammate Simona Scocchetti, who hit an overall total of 211 clays.
The Bronze medal went to the Slovakian athletes Danka Bartekova, Andrea Stranovska and Minka Zemkova, third with 208 hits.