On day 5 of Para Shooting Sport competition at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, Australia’s Natalie Smith, 4 time Paralympian, secured her spot in the R8 Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position final after shooting a qualification score of 1156.
In what is deemed the marathon event in the rifle events due to the number of shots fired (120) over a 2 hour and 45 minute time frame, and in front of her husband Stuart and son Daniel, Smith put some high series’ scores on the board (10 shots per series) across the kneeling, prone and standing positions, qualifying her in 8th place leading into the final.
With scores set back to zero for the final, Smith had to readjust between the outdoor range used during qualification, and competiting for the first time on an indoor range for the final. At the end of the 15 shots in the kneeling position, Smith was ranked 3rd. A further 15 shots in the prone position and 10 shots in the standing position would determine who would be eliminated from final in 7th and 8th place. Smith finished her 40 shots on a score of 396.2 and placed 8th.
This was Smith’s equal best result in this event at a Paralympic Games. The R8 event concludes Smith’s Paris 2024 Paralympic campaign. She will now support teammate Anton Zappelli in his final event on Thursday, before departing Chateauroux for the Paralympic Village in Paris, and attendance at the Closing Ceremony.
