Paris 2024: De La Forest finally wins first Paralympic gold at home

After a long, a very long wait, Frenchman Tanguy De La Forest clinched his first Paralympic gold medal at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre on Sunday (01 September).

It was France's first gold medal in the shooting Para sport after de La Forest's silver earlier at the competition. De La Forest has been aiming for his elusive gold medal ever since he debuted at the Paralympics at Athens 2004, and he wouldn't have been much more delighted than winning it at home Games.  

Qualifying in the seventh place, De La Forest put up a dominating show that was laced by precision and determination as he signed off on 255.4 points in the R5 - mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2 final. 

The Frenchman's 10.8 and 10.5 in the final series was matched by Brazlian Alexandre Augusto Galgani but was still not enough. Galgani finished on 254.2 for his first Paralympic medal.

“It is another beautiful day. A gold medal after a silver medal in the Paralympic Games in Paris. It is just amazing. It is better than a dream. It is just perfect,” said the 46-year-old three-time world champion.

“Family, friends, all the French people here helped me to win. It was just amazing.”

Japan got their first medal at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre as Mika Mizuta claimed the bronze, her first Paralympic medal with an effort of 232.1.

💬 “This means so much. I trained all year, in winter, in summer for four years, and I'm still training. I had great support from the Slovak Paralympic Committee, from the police - I'm a police officer - and my coach. This is for them.”

- 🥇 Veronika Vadovicova 🇸🇰 pic.twitter.com/4NZOL1dVYo

— Shooting Para Sport (@ShootingPara) September 1, 2024

Vadovicova stamps her status

It was indeed a day of legendary champions to shine. 

Before De La Forest's impressive first, Slovakian legend Veronika Vadovicova regained the Paralympic gold in R3 - mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 since Rio 2016. Her final score 254.2 was a Games record. 

The world record holder already has a glittering cabinet that had six Paralympic medal and seven world championship and is the current European champion. And the final shot of 10.5 sealed her fifth Paralympic gold for her ahead of her fellow shooter Radoslav Malenovsky (253.6).

“This means so much. I trained all year, in winter, in summer for four years, and I am still training," said the 41-year-old Vadovicova.

“I had great support from the Slovak Paralympic Committee, from the police - I am a police officer - and my coach. This is for them.”

This was the first Paralympic medal for Malenovsky who made his Paralympic debut in Beijing 2008. The bronze was claimed by Juan Antonio Saavedra Reinaldo, who picked up his third Paralympic medal on the day.

Competition at the shooting Para Sport continues on Monday (2 September) with one medal lined up for the day.