Chinese world record holder Lihao Sheng was long superior in the final.
But there was a thrill behind it, with IOC president Thomas Bach in the stands. 21-year-old Lindgren, who made his Olympic debut in yesterday’s qualifier (where he finished sixth), was initially just behind the podium places.
OS i Paris 2024
Small margins
But with six of eight finalists still in the fight (the final was decided by an elimination system where the shooters went out as they went), Lindgren – who is a welder by trade – moved up to second place.
But, as so often in shooting, the margins were very small – and when there were only five left, Lindgren was fourth, with just 0.2 points up for a silver medal.
In the round after that, Lindgren moved up to third place, and only one elimination remained before the podium would be complete.
– When there were four left and it was the last shots about who would take fourth place, then you just had to push when it was in the middle, he tells SVT.
A nervous Lindgren scored 10.6 and 10.0 in that round, while Babuta shot 10.5 and 9.4 – and Lindgren’s medal remained.
Then the question was what denomination it would be. He was 0.5 points up on Croatian Miran Marcic in bronze, and another 0.7 up on Sheng’s gold.
Lindgren’s first shot in the round scored 10.6 points, and Maricic shot 10.3.
On the last shot in the round, it was “only” 9.9 for the Croatian and 10.6 for Lindgren – and it was clear that there would be at least silver for the Swede.
At the same time, Lihao Sheng had started to show nerves, with 10.7 and 9.9 and the distance down to Lindgren was suddenly only 0.6 points.
Olympic record of the winner
Lindgren’s penultimate shot of the competition “only” scored 10.3, and the Chinese 10.5 – which meant that Sheng would need a big miss on the last shot to lose the gold.
That was not the case. Sheng stood on the podium and it was a Swedish silver as both shot 10.6 points and got a total of 252.2 points – a new Olympic record. In the end, Victor Lindgren was 0.8 points behind the Chinese.
The silver is Sweden’s third medal so far in the Olympics, where previously there had been two Olympic bronzes.
– Right now I don’t understand anything! There is only joy about it all, there are tears that fall and it is completely indescribable, he tells SVT Sport.
– It’s completely senseless, it’s sick!
