With more than 5 points of advantage on their followers, Barbara Lechner, Sonja Pfeilschifer and Eva Friedel climbed upon today’s podium, in a glorious day for the German team.
It has been a glorious day for the German rifle team, today, in Wroclaw (POL), where the 2011 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final is held from the 18th to the 24th of September.
Three German flags were risen atop of today’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women event podium, won by Barbara Lechner, followed by her teammates Sonja Pfeilschifter and Eva Friedel.
Only the best shooters of the world were eligible to participate in this competition: the reigning World Champions, the World Cup title defenders, and the best performers qualified throughout this year’s four ISSF World Cup Stages.
The three German teammates beat the all, finishing atop of the podium with more than 5 points of margin on the other finalists.
The reigning World Champion, Barbara Lechner, qualified in the lead with 592 points. Exploiting her three-point head start on her two teammates, she did not hesitate, and took the brightest medal with an overall score of 690.8 points, after leading the medal match with 98.8 points.
“I feel great. I am at the top of my conditions.” The 28-year old finalist said right after the match. Just a few weeks ago, she had finished in second at the European Championship held in Belgrade.
“I hope I will keep on shooting like today in the next months. I want to win the German Olympic trials, and then go the 2012 Olympics. Today, I am so fit that I feel I can make it!” Lechner added. She had been competing in the 2004 and in the 2008 Olympics, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively.
Her teammate Sonja Pfeilschifter, a 40-year old World Record holder who has been leading the rifle world ranking for years, placed in second. Qualified with 587 points, she scored today’s highest final, 103.1 points, finishing on the podium with a total of 690.1 points, just 0.7 behind Lechner. Pfeilschifter was not new to the ISSF World Cup Final podium: since 1991, she has been winning six gold medals, and a total of 12 awards, in this event.
Eva Friedel (27), the third German finalist, secured the Bronze with an overall score of 687.7 (589+98.7) points, winning her first ISSF World Cup Final medal.
“It has been an excellent competition. We are a great team, and we showed it today, I couldn’t be more happy to share the podium with the two of them!” Lechner added.
China’s Wan Xiangyan and Li Peijing place in fourth and fifth place, more than five points behind the Germans, with 682.6 and 682.0 points, respectively. USA’s Jamie Beyerle followed them in sixth with 681.3 points, while Denmark’s Stine Nielsen and Switzerland’s Annik Marguet closed the match in seventh and eighth place with 678.8 and 677.4 points, respectively.