With 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze, Norway topped the medal statistics in the Olympic qualification event in Rio de Janeiro last week.
And not only that, the squad could also go home with 2 new quota places in their luggage; in air rifle for women and 50m match for men. Synnøve Berg and Ole Martin Halvorsen were responsible for these achievements, both of them came third in their respective exercises.
Air rifle
It all started with the air rifle mix team, where Jeanette Hegg Duestad and Jon-Hermann Hegg won after an incredible recovery in the final, where they were down 3-13 against France, but eventually won 16-14! In the qualification, Jeanette and Jon-Hermann were No. 2 with 632.4 points, while the other Norwegian team, Pernille Nor-Woll and Henrik Larsen, were No. 17 with 626.4 points, 4.1 points from the bronze final.
In air rifle for men, Jon-Hermann Hegg secured his second medal in Rio, this time it was silver. After leading the competition for a long time, it was 9.8 on the last shot and thus Lazar Kovacevic of Serbia snuck past by 0.1 points.
– There is more and more tension in the body throughout the competition, especially in the arm, so it is a mental battle in the last shots. It shakes a bit after a while and thus the victory slips away, but I’m happy anyway, said Jon-Hermann after the final.
In the qualification Jon-Hermann scored 632.0 points and came third, while Henrik Larsen with 14th place and 628.9 points was only 1.1 points from the final and the opportunity to shoot for a quota place. Ole Martin Halvorsen shot 626.6 points and was number 40.
Among the women, 16-year-old Synnøve Berg came third.
– It was tough to shoot the final and an important experience to take with you further. I had a lot of pulse along the way and it was really hard, said Synnøve after the final.
Jeanette Hegg Duestad was in the lead for a long time in the final, but eventually finished in fourth place. Jeanette was also the best of all in the qualification with a total of 633.6 points. Synnøve was fourth here with 631.3 points after leading after one of two teams had shot. Pernille Nor-Woll also had a good competition and came 19th out of the 102 participants with 628.5 points.
50m match
Ole Martin Halvorsen made a huge impression when he was No. 3 and won a quota place for Norway in the final of the 50 meter match in Rio. Ole Martin just as well took the lead after the 15 knee shots in the final and was second after lying down. Consistently good shooting also in standing secured him a place on the podium in this exercise.
– It feels very good now, but it was hard to shoot. It is the first time on the podium individually for me internationally and it was not expected. But it’s a lot of fun, said Ole Martin Halvorsen.
Ole Martin scored 593 points in the qualification and came third there as well. Jon-Hermann Hegg was ninth with 590 points, just two centers away from going to the final. Good competition also by Henrik Larsen with 589 points and 15th place.
Ole Martin cheers for a podium place and quota place
In the women’s match competition, it was another international victory for Jeanette Hegg Duestad. Jeanette led the final all the way, but the margin of victory down to Emely Jaeggi from Switzerland ended up being just 0.3 points.
– I am very satisfied with the completion of the first 40 shots. Felt solid and safe. Then it got tough mentally towards the end of standing, said Jeanette after shooting.
In the qualification, Jeanette came sixth with 590 points. Mari Bårdseng Løvseth also had excellent competitions with 587 points in 17th place and Synnøve Berg with 586 points in 19th place.
Pistol
Ole-Harald Aas was the only Norwegian pistol shooter in Rio. With the air pistol, he delivered excellent shooting and fought all the way for a place in the final (and thus the opportunity to secure a quota place). It wasn’t until shot number 57 that Ole-Harald got the final spot. Then came an eight and thus he lost the opportunity to reach the high final limit of 581 points. With a nine on the last shot, it ended up being 13th place and 579 points, still one of his very best international scores ever.
– This was a tough competition all the way, but I worked through it. There are a couple of shots that miss where the focus is not present, but I am very satisfied with the score and result considering how hard the competition was to shoot, said Ole-Harald Aas after shooting.
The silhouette pistol competition started well for Ole-Harald, and after the first day he had the series 99-95-92 = 286 points and was only four points behind the final limit. On the second day, he opened with 97-97 and kept his hopes of a final place alive. But in the 4-second series there were too many point losses and the Bærum PK shooter stopped at 567 points and 25th place.
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See all results and follow the competitions in Rio here: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/results.ashx?cshipid=3199
