18-year-old of Switzerland comes out on top in close duel with pre-competition favorite of Singapore. Germany's Budde takes bronze
Switzerland's Sarah Hornung, 18, took over Women's 10m Air Rifle, the third of six shooting events at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing. Hornung, a bronze medallist at the latest European Championship in Moscow, beat Singapore's Martina Veloso by a slight 0.6 points. Veloso had come into the event as a favorite, after a bronze in Munich last June had given her the status of youngest ISSF World Cup medallist ever. Third place went to Germany's Julia Budde, 18.
As all expectations were on Veloso, Hornung was reasonably carefree. “I didn’t expect to have this kind of success,” she said. No matter the crowded Fangshan Shooting Hall, Hornung managed to stay focused.“I completely isolated myself and didn't listen to the others,” she said. “I just did my own thing.”
Veloso recognized that there was pressure on her. "Maybe there were expectations,” she said. “But I shouldn't be thinking of it." To her, the noise from the audience made quite a difference. “It wasn't that easy to make myself calm,” she said. (To focus, she even tried to sing to herself.) “It was different. I don't know why, but it was just different.” At first, though, she had not even realized what the atmosphere behind her was like. “I didn't really know that there were a lot of people,” she said. “But when I shot a high ten I could hear the people and I was like… [gasps amused]." On the other hand, Veloso said that the “competition is fun.”
The race to the podium positions took shape as only Hornung, Budde, Veloso and Iraq's Najmeh Khedmati were still in the competition. As Khedmati was heading towards fourth place, Budde hit a well-timed 10.6 to tighten the gap between her and Hornung to just 0.3, but Veloso eventually came in with a stunning 10.9 to outdo the German shooter.
As the duel between Hornung and Veloso started, the Suisse athlete was leading by 0.9 points. Over the next decisive shots, that became first 0.7 and finally 0.6; not much, but enough for Hornung to make it to the gold.
Bronze medallist Budde was satisfied with her performance. “It's my best result,” she said.“[I feel] very good [about it].” She then commented on a new event which will be staged next Friday. “I'm curious to find out what the Mixed Team competition means”, she said. “We all don't know much about it and we are looking forward to it.”
To Veloso, the missed gold was anyway less important than the gained silver. “I'm just really happy that I got [it],” she said. “[After Munich] I had to start from ground zero. [Today] I had to forget about all those medals I won before. I just really had to focus on this competition and not think about anything else."
Today's medal, though, is not the only memory that Veloso will bring back to Singapore. "Back at the [Olympic] Village we get to do CEP, Cultural Exchange Program,” she said. “We can learn about other cultures and we can also make friends from other countries.”