Soldier Wins Olympic Silver Medal in 3-Positions Rifle

Army Sgt. Sagen Maddalena won the silver medal in the women's three-positions rifle final at the Paris Olympics.

Maddalena earned a place in the finals with the top eight competitors after setting an Olympic qualification record with a score of 593-45x. China's Qiongyue Zhang followed close behind with a 593-40x.

Once in the final, the Army Marksmanship Unit soldier took the lead after the first five kneeling shots with 52.2 points and held her first-place lead after 10 shots with 104.4. Austria's Nadine Ungerank followed with a 104. Moving into the prone position, with 15 shots in, the Groveland, California native slipped down to fourth with a 155.9 as Switzerland's Chiara Leone took the lead with a 156.2. Ungerank and Zhang followed in second and third.

However, after another five shots, Maddalena took the lead again with a 208.2, with China just .1 behind. Maddalena spread the gap after 25 shots with a score of 261.2 while Zhang held second with a 260.4. With 30 shots into the final, Maddalena continued to lead with 314.0 points.

After five shots in the standing position, Maddalena slipped down to fifth with a 361.8 while Zhang moved into first place with a 364.7. Norway, Switzerland and Austria followed respectively. With five more shots into the standing position, the marksmanship instructor and competitive shooter stationed out of Fort Moore, Georgia, moved up to fourth. By shot 42, Maddalena had taken the lead again with 433.6 points, a .2 lead over Leone.

Shot 43 brought Maddalena into the final three competitors of the event, ensuring an Olympic medal. At that moment, she had 443.0 points while Zhang was in second with a .2 point lead and Leone was first with .9 point lead.

After two more shots, Maddalena secured the silver medal over China with 463.0 points while Switzerland claimed the gold. This was not the first Olympics for Maddalena. She competed in the three-positions rifle, or smallbore, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics placing fifth. The last time Team USA medaled in this event was 2012 when Jamie Beverley won gold in London.

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