The final of the Women’s 50 meter 3-position rifle on Friday afternoon could be what makes or breaks the US Shooting team at this Olympics. It’s up to Sagen Maddalena, the leader after Thursday’s qualifiers, to get the U.S. on the podium, which has an elusive place for Uncle Sam this week in Paris.
Setting the qualifying Olympic Record at 593, the 30-year-old Army marksman was tied with China’s Qiongyue Zhang. However, because she had more x’s, or more dead-center hits — 45 to 40 — Maddalena took the top position going into Friday’s finals.
“I really don’t know how to feel yet, to be honest, like, I’m happy,” Maddalena said of her position of leading the top eight qualifiers. “That was a very big mountain to climb, to get a big success, proud of it, but the work is not done.”
Maddalena is the US shooter who has come closest to winning a medal in Paris, finishing fourth in the 10 meter air rifle earlier this week.
Her history in 50 meter 3 position is impressive. She finished fifth in the Olympics in Tokyo and placed in the top 10 in Azerbaijan, Cairo, Brazil, Croatia, Peru, India, and in Poland, where Maddalena won the 2021 World Cup.
Not being able to fully process her oh-so-close moment earlier in the week when Maddalena just missed her first Olympic medal, she struggled in warmups on Wednesday. With some poor groupings and shots off the top of the target, Maddalena says she wasn’t discouraged, but it introduced a little bit of doubt.
On Thursday, Maddalena wasn’t feeling great either. She says she found a corner to herself, paced, and tried to calm her mind, but ultimately, she reflected on the fact that she knew her job and she had done all the training and prep work. Now, she just needed to execute.
Maddalena sat and watched the wind, which was constant at 15mph gusting up to 20 mph and she focused on what the conditions gave her. “It kept me occupied,” Maddalena said of the wind. “Always had to watch the flags. I never had the chance to get lax at all. I was on edge the entire time.”
Luckily, when the gusts of wind came through, they didn’t push her body, and Maddalena maintained control by staying on her toes. All she had to do was stay patient about when to take her shot, when to wait, and when to fire, reflecting on her years of practice and timing.
Now in a position not only for a medal but potentially for gold, Maddalena says she knows tomorrow’s outcome won’t define her. But at the same time, she’s hungry to get off the medal snide, and this is the best chance of her career.
“It all it’s a clean slate. Everyone starts from zero,” Maddalena said. “And for me, tomorrow is just going to be going through the training, the process, what my shot process is, my timing of the shots. That’s what I can control. So, tomorrow is just going to be what I can control, taking hold of that. Riding the high”
