India’s Ramita Jindal made history on Sunday, July 28, by advancing to the medal round of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event, while her fellow competitor Elavenil Valarivan fell short. Ramita became the second female shooter in the past two decades to reach the medal round, following Manu Bhaker. She is also the first female rifle shooter since her coach, Suma Shirur, who competed in the Athens 2004 Olympics, to make it to the Olympic final.
Ramita scored 631.5 points, and it appeared until the final series that she might not qualify. However, she finished 5th in the rankings, securing a spot in the medal round. Elavenil, who was leading at the halfway mark, faltered in the next three series and ended up finishing 10th in the qualifying round.
Ramita finished with a total score of 631.5, placing her behind Korea’s Hyojin Ban (1st with 634.4), Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad (2nd with 633.2), Swiss shooter Audrey Gogniat (3rd with 632.6), and China’s Yuting Huang (4th with 632.6).