The crowd began clapping in unison as the remaining two shooters fired their final shots.
The crowd began clapping in unison as the remaining two shooters fired their final shots.
Amid the intense atmosphere, Sareh Javanmardi was telling herself that she would win – and she did.
The Iranian defended her title in the P2 (women’s 10m air pistol SH1),
as day three of the 2018 World Shooting Para Sport Championships
finished on Sunday in Cheongju, South Korea. It was one of two
individual medal events held on this day.
“In the last shot series, it was so stressful,” Javanmardi said. “But I
was sure that I would be the gold medallist. And I think in these
situations it is the god that helps the people and me.”
Through the finals, Javanmardi was chasing Ukraine’s silver medal
finisher Iryna Liakhu. Olivera Nakovska-Bikova, from the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, won bronze.
It did not help that Javanmardi received a one-point deduction for a
penalty. That left her fighting from behind, and only until the
penultimate shot series was she able to hit a near-perfect 10.8 to take
the lead.
“This was the first time in 10 years that I am a shooter [to get a
penalty] and at first yes, it was a serious fall for me, but I tried to
manage everything,” Javanmardi said. “This was the first time, and the
last time that I ever do such a thing again.”
Javanmardi repeated her success from the last World Championships in
2014 held in Suhl, Germany. There, she secured a slot for the Rio 2016
Paralympic Games – where she won the P2 Paralympic title. Sunday’s
victory brought back old feelings.
“Of course this is not the first time that I have had such a great and
very pleasant feeling,” she said. “This medal is for a Paralympic slot
[for Tokyo 2020].”