Sagen Maddalena, of Groveland, California, earned the silver medal in Women’s 50m Smallbore Rifle on August 2 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in France. Maddalena earned the first U.S. Olympic Shooting medal of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“This is really special,” said Maddalena, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. “There are no words to describe the opportunity coming to fulfillment.”
Maddalena, the 2023 ISSF World Championship bronze medalist, had an outstanding roller-coaster of a final. She started the three-position final strong in kneeling and prone where she consistently led the pack.
Going into the final position of standing, Maddalena was in first place overall. In her first series of five shots, she fired off an 8.1 and an 8.6, dropping her down from first place to fifth. After the second five-shot series in standing, the bottom two athletes were eliminated.
When asked how she shakes off bad shots, Maddalena said she accepts making a mistake, knows to not dwell on the mistake, and trusts her process and herself to get back on track.
Athletes moved into single-shot eliminations where Maddalena shot an incredible 10.8, moving her back up to first place. Maddalena fluctuated between the top three spots during the single shots and found herself in a shoot-off with Qiongyue Zhang, of China, for third place. Maddalena shot a 9.9, beating Zhang’s 9.7, leaving China with the bronze.
Madalena secured her silver medal after Chiara Leone, of Switzerland took her final shot and had an overall score 464.4, just higher than Maddalena’s 463.
Maddalena, a University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni, placed fifth in Women’s 50m Smallbore at the Tokyo 2020 Games, where she made her Olympic debut. The crowds in Tokyo were minimal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a clear contrast to the crowd in the finals hall today.
“It was really hyped up in a good way,” Maddalena said. “To shoot a good shot and hear the stands erupt was awesome. It pushed me a little bit.”
View the official results here.
View the full schedule of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games here.
