Switzerland wins its first medal at the Paris Olympics

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Shooter Audrey Gogniat has won bronze in the 10m air rifle event.

Switzerland has won its first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Audrey Gogniat clinched bronze in the 10m air rifle event. Gold went to South Korea’s Hyojin Ban, who beat silver medal winner Yuting Huang of China.

Already third in Sunday’s qualifying round, Gogniat showed great consistency throughout her final, finishing third throughout the competition. Despite the pressure, the Jura native was able to keep a cool head, firing just one shot under 10 points out of 22 attempts.

“I’m at a loss for words. I’ve won the first medal for Switzerland, for the Jura, in front of my family and my supporters – it’s incredible! I’m very happy,” she summed up a few minutes after her achievement, before admitting: “I was a bit more stressed than for a traditional competition. After all, it was an Olympic final! I’ve worked a lot to get to this point, especially over the last few years when it’s been tough at times.”

It is Gogniat’s second medal of the year in a major championship. She had already won bronze in March at the European championships in Györ, Hungary.

A total of 128 Swiss athletes – 66 men and 62 women – are taking part in the Games making it the biggest Swiss delegation since Los Angeles in 1984. The Swiss excelled themselves by pocketing 13 medals in Tokyo three years ago. This time Ralph Stöckli, head of the Swiss delegation, hasn’t set a medal target for the 24 disciplines in which the Swiss are taking part.

Switzerland has won five medals each Summer Games on average since 1972 and has never achieved a double-digit figure apart from Tokyo.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac