Ecuador’s Andrea Perez Pena completed a golden double at the Olympic Qualification CAT XIV Rifle and Pistol Championships in Buenos Aires as she added the 25m pistol title to the 10m air pistol version she won on the opening day of finals.
But as her earlier victory had earned her an Olympic quota place the version available in the 25m pistol final went to second-placed Laina Perez of Cuba, the 2019 Pan American Games champion.
Perez Pena won with a total of 30 hits, with the 35-year-old Pena taking her second Championship of the Americas silver – the first coming in 2022 – with 26 hits.
Perez Pena is now in line for a third Olympic appearance, while Pena has the prospect a second Games participation after competing in the 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team.
Bronze medallist on the third day of finals at the Argentine Federal Shooting Range was Brazil’s Marina Alves, who finished on 24, four hits clear of Katelyn Abeln of the United States.
Abeln’s compatriots Ada Korkhin and Lisa Emmert finished respectively fifth and sixth, with seventh place going to Mexico’s Alejandra Zavala Vazquez and eighth place to Brazil’s Ana Souza Lima.
It was Perez Pena’s third medal at these Championships, as she had also taken bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event with Yautung Cueva Cordova after a 16-12 win over Guatemala’s Kimberly Linares Montoya and Jose Castillo Aguilar.
Gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event went to the Mexican pairing of Andrea Ibarra Miranda and Carlos Gonzalez, who beat the Ecuador 2 partnership of Diana Durango Flores and Fernando Pozo Neira 16-12.
Team gold in the 25m pistol event went to the United States trio of Emmert, Abeln and Korkhin.
Silver went to Brazil’s Alves, Souza Lima and Cibele Breide Martins, with the Mexican trio of Zavala Vazquez, Ibarra Miranda and Cervantes Rodriguez.
Two more Paris 2024 quota places are on offer at the Championships, which conclude on Sunday (April 7).
A total of 168 athletes from 21 countries are due to participate.
Live streaming of the competition can be accessed at: https://play.tycsports.com/polideportivo/copa-de-las-americas-tiro-dia-1-id573834.html
