The qualification for the 50 meter rifle was characterized by Norwegian advancement and a technical failure. The Italian camp is critical of the mistake.
TOKYO (Nettavisen): The Norwegian shooter Jeanette Hegg Duestad secured a final place in the 50 meter rifle full match with a cry of distress on Saturday.
Duestad has impressed a lot before in the Tokyo Olympics, but for a long time seemed to break out in the qualification during Saturday’s practice. A strong finish, however, led to the Norwegian girl finishing eighth in the qualification and thus took the last final place.
The 22-year-old from Tønsberg delivered 1171 points in the qualification.
Technical trouble for Italians: – Scandal
For the shooter next to her, however, it did not go as well. 18-year-old Sofia Ceccarello from Italy was well underway with her latest series when there was a sudden technical trouble with the target, which meant that the target did not register the shots of the 18-year-old.
– There’s something wrong with her record. This is about to become an Olympic scandal for the Italian European champion. It is absolutely incredible, said NRK’s Andreas Stabrun-Smith while it was all happening.
The online newspaper had a chat with the Italian shooter after the qualification, which ended with a modest 21st place in the end.
– On other shots standing, the board did not show what I hit, and they told me that there was a problem with the target, and that it was not my problem. I shot in the middle of the target, but I do not know, she says disappointed to Nettavisen.
Thus, the 18-year-old stood waiting while the jury reviewed what went wrong.
However, it did not stress her.
– Maybe it gave me time to calm down and breathe.
Valentina Turisini is a former Olympic champion in shooting, and now technical director of the Italian national shooting team.
She tells Nettavisen that they must accept the situation and that technical errors can occur, but points out that it should not happen in an Olympics.
– This situation makes you ask questions. For her at that moment it was not a problem, but it could have been. What if something like this happens in a final, for example. Every single shot is important for a shooter, and if something like this happens it can really be a problem, she tells Nettavisen.
The 18-year-old, who thus became European champion as late as 2021 when she won the 50-meter full match during the championship in Osijek in Croatia in May and June earlier this year, finished in 21st place in Saturday’s Olympic qualifiers and collected a score of 1163 points.
– There’s something wrong
Ceccarello looked almost like a question mark as she stood and the Italian team was in full swing talking to the delegates to find out the mistake.
– At first I thought “what’s going on?”, And I thought maybe I shot at someone else’s target, but luckily that was not the case. I just had to wait for someone to tell me what to do, Ceccarello says, before Turisini shoots in.
– It is a problem, because you can lose concentration. If you are in the middle of a good series, it is a problem you do not deserve, she says.
Jeanette Hegg Duestad was standing next to Ceccarello when the situation arose, but the 22-year-old from Tønsberg says that she did not get the commotion.
– Then I was completely in my own bubble. I saw how she shot along the way, but not that there were any problems, she tells Nettavisen.
–
