Olympics-Shooting-Leone keeps women's rifle 3 positions gold in Swiss hands

By Amlan Chakraborty

CHATEAUROUX, France (Reuters) -Switzerland's Chiara Leone ensured Olympic gold in the women's 50-metre rifle three positions remained in her country's possession after triumphing in a rollercoaster final at the Paris Games on Friday.

The top five in the eight-strong field frequently exchanged places heading into the elimination round where the 26-year-old prevailed with an Olympic record tally of 464.4.

Sagen Maddalena (463) of the United States won the silver while Chinese world champion Zhang Qiongyue took bronze.

"I knew I could win," said Leone after exceeding her own goal of making the eight-strong final at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.

"I wanted a medal. I wanted a piece of the Eiffel Tower in my hands, and winning is just... I can't describe how I feel."

The hexagon-shaped medals at the Paris Games are forged out of scrap metal from the famous monument.

Maddalena and Zhang topped Thursday's qualification and were in the mix in the drama-filled final of the shooting events.

PRONE SECTION

Maddalena reclaimed the lead after the prone section but could not hold onto it for long as Zhang surged ahead after the standing segment.

The Chinese did not have the advantage for long either and was the first of the three medallists to drop out in the elimination rounds.

Leone carried a 0.7 advantage heading into her final shot, which was an impressive 10.8.

Aware of her unassailable lead on her Olympic debut, the Swiss pumped her fists and let out a big sigh of relief.

Maddalena replied with a 10.1 and had to settle for silver.

"I don't know what happened on the last shot but I somehow managed to be almost in the centre," Leone said after emulating compatriot Nina Christen, who won the event in Tokyo three years ago but failed to make the final in Paris.

"It was perfect, and I'm really, really happy right now."

Maddalena rued her performance in the standing segment but was proud of how she bounced back from fifth to win the silver.

"I assessed the mistake. My (setting) was a little off, and I adjusted it and had to make good shots even though my heart was pumping," she said.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Chateauroux; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ken Ferris)