Lima 2023: Tanguy de la Forest leads France to top on final day

Tanguy de la Forest will go back to France laden with four gold medals – two individual and two team – and a bronze after an epic week at the Lima 2023 World Shooting Para Sport Championships, which ended on Thursday (28 September).

The reigning world champion’s victory in the R9 – mixed 50m rifle prone SH2 on the final day bookended his win and world record set in the R4 – mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 at the start of his campaign on the opening day. 

Along the way, there were a further two team golds in R4 and R9, which he also collected on Friday, and an individual bronze in R5 – mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2. The wins helped France leapfrog over Korea and Italy on the leaderboard with a total of six gold medals; they each had four.

“It feels amazing to win for France, it is very important for me,” de la Forest said after the medal ceremony for the R9 event. “It is also very emotional for me to hear my national anthem and to wear my country’s team uniform.” 

De la Forest’s latest win was among the highlights of day seven in Peru’s capital, which hosted the first World Championships to be held in the Americas. It also included gold medals for Great Britain’s Matt Skelhon and Ukraine’s Oleksii Denysiuk. 

The 45-year-old had dominated the R9 final, winning each series and elimination rounds to finish on 252.5. Serbia’s reigning Paralympic champion Dragan Ristic, who also won the 2023 Osijek World Cup, could not make up a three-point deficit and signed off in silver on 249.5. Germany’s Moritz Moebius impressed in his first World Championships final to claim bronze. 

The 24-year-old also won a Paris 2024 Paralympic Games quota place, as did Great Britain’s Tim Jeffery, who came fifth in the competition with France’s Justine Beve in fourth.

“I had a good feeling going into the R9 final and I’m very happy to win this,” said de la Forest. “I felt confident because I did well in R4 and R5. I like competing in the 50m, it is my preferred event.

“Now I will set a new target for the Paralympic Games in France next year. I will need to work more and more; it will be better for me if I do.”

In the meantime, he praised Lima 2023: “I am very happy to come here for the first World Championships in the Americas,” he said.

“It has been well organised, and I like the shooting range. It has also had a good ambiance with music played when we win. It’s been a good Championships.”

Best of Britain

Music and cheers filled the air when Great Britain’s Skelhon saved the best for last when he clinched gold in the final of the R6 - mixed 50m rifle prone SH1. It was the first medal of the Championships for the team and also the start of an outstanding day for the athletes.

The Beijing 2008 Paralympic champion, who came fifth in the event in last year’s edition in Al Ain, had led the impressive field from the start of the elimination rounds before signing off on 249.3.

Germany’s Natascha Hiltrop, a Paralympic champion and bronze medallist in R10 in Lima, put up a tough challenge, but was unable to capitalise on her first place in the opening series, and she finished 1.3 behind on 248.0.

Israel’s Chernoy Yuliya, who took the world title in R3 – mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 earlier this week, claimed bronze, despite finishing in pain after picking up an injury.

Skelhon also admitted he had not felt well before the final, which made his win even more impressive. “I have been up since 3.15am so it’s been really tough. Three of us in the team were ill overnight."

But he battled on: “I had to really fight and to dig deep to just keep control of my emotions. It is getting tougher and tougher as everybody is constantly getting better. 

“We’re all pushing the limits to see how good we can be and how big a score we can shoot,” added the right-handed shooter, who just missed out on a place in the R3 final.

“At the end I felt relief and happiness to win. It also felt really good to hear the national anthem,” he said. “I have been performing well this year and was sort of expecting to be up there, but I was disappointed not to make the R3 final and really wanted to do well today. I think it has been quite tough for us [team] this week, but we’ve given it everything we’ve got.”

Of his time in Lima, he added: “It has been a fantastic Championships with some really good shooting on a great range. I’m looking forward now to the Paralympics next year.” The 35-year-old had already secured a quota place for Paris 2024.

Great Britain’s Tim Jeffery, James Bevis and Ryan Cockbill rounded off a successful day with a silver medal in the team R9 – mixed 50m rifle prone SH2.

First gold for Ukraine

Oleksii Denysiuk also won Ukraine’s first gold on the last day of the Championships in the P5 – mixed 10m air pistol standard SH1 final. He finished on 363, with India’s Rubina Francis taking silver on 360 and Czech’s Tomas Pesek in bronze.

The 34-year-old admitted he was disappointed he was not as successful as he had expected after the country topped the leaderboard at last year’s edition in Al Ain.

But he added: “I am still very proud that it is the first medal for us and to hear our national anthem, which is very important for us at this time when we have a war in our country. It is important for us to show that despite all of these problems, we are still here.”

Denysiuk has had to move to Germany to continue to train and paid tribute to the shooting club, Thuringen Schutzen Bund (TSB), for supporting him as well as his national Paralympic committee.

“I would like to say thank you to them both for helping me. TSB has also given me the opportunity to train and given me accommodation,” he said.

The last medal of the day was for the R6 - mixed team 50m rifle prone SH1, which was won by Germany, with China in silver and South Korea the bronze.

Twenty-one out of the 54 participant nations secured medals at Lima 2023, with 16 claiming at least one gold. Complete results from this year’s World Championships can be found here. 

You can watch all the finals again on the World Shooting Para Sport website.

The 2023 season will resume at the end of Octobter with the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, followed by the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile in November.