This Monday, August 2 at 1:30 AM (French time), at the Tokyo Olympics, Antibes native Jean Quiquampoix won the Olympic gold medal in the 25m Pistol Shooting event. This marks the 22nd medal, and the 6th gold for Team France.
As we reported last week in our article on the Azur Coast athletes likely to win a medal, Jean Quiquampoix, at the age of 25, was the strong favorite to win the Olympic title in his discipline: the 25m rapid fire shooting. A product of the Antibes Shooting Club, he had won the last two competitions he participated in (the European Championships and the World Cup) and had touched gold in Rio 2016 by taking the silver medal.
As he stated before the start of the competition, the Olympic title was his goal, the only title missing in an already exceptional career (15 gold medals, 7 silver, and 7 bronze).
To win this Tokyo medal, Jean Quiquampoix had to face, among others, the one who defeated him 5 years ago in Rio, the German Christian Reitz, who eventually finished 6th. However, the start of the final for the Frenchman was rather average with 4 successful shots out of 5 and then 3 shots out of 5. At that moment, Phillipe Manassero, president of the Alpes-Maritimes Olympic Committee, was not pessimistic. “For all the shooters, the start was average. But I felt he was confident, serene, in his bubble. You could tell he was coming from a successful competition where he had beaten his Rio rival. I had predicted him to win the gold medal before the final, and this average start did not change my prediction.”
Indeed, the Frenchman managed to focus and then delivered a very high-level performance, even equaling the Olympic record: 34 successful shots out of 40.
“This record is the goal Jean can set for himself. I think it could be an additional motivation for the 2024 Games in Paris.”
From now on, France will have its eyes on their 25-year-old champion who has already won everything in his discipline. He will have the chance to further cement his place in the history of his sport by breaking this record.
