Female Olympic Shooter
Pakistan’s sole female marksman, Kishmala Talat, was eliminated from the Paris Olympics after a disappointing performance in the Women’s 25m Pistol event.
Competing on Friday, Talat finished 22nd with a score of 579-18x at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, falling short of making it to the final round.
At just 22 years old, Talat had high hopes for the Paris Games. This event marked her third and final competition at the Olympics.
She had previously competed in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event with Gulfam Joseph, where she placed 14th, and in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol individual event, finishing 31st.
In the 25m Pistol event, Talat’s performance was subpar despite her best efforts. She scored 289 in the precision round with scores of 95, 99, and 95, and 290 in the rapid round with scores of 98, 93, and 99.
Her efforts were insufficient to secure a spot in the final, which was led by Hungary’s Veronika Major, who equaled the Olympic record with an impressive score of 592-27x.
Earlier this year, Talat had a notable achievement at the Asian Shooting Championships in Jakarta, where she won both a silver and a bronze medal.
This performance made her the first Pakistani woman to earn a direct Olympic berth. Furthermore, her remarkable performance at the 2023 Shooting World Championship in Baku, where she scored an all-time best of 583 in the 25m pistol event and placed ninth overall, had set a strong foundation for her Olympic qualification.
Alongside Talat, another Pakistani athlete, Faiqa Riaz, also faced disappointment in her Olympic debut. Riaz competed in the Women’s 100m event, where she clocked a time of 12.49 seconds.
Unfortunately, this time was not fast enough to advance to the next round, as only the top three finishers in each heat progressed.
Riaz finished sixth in Heat 2 of the preliminary round, behind sprinters from Oman, American Samoa, and the UAE. Overall, she placed 24th out of 36 participants.
Riaz, the reigning national champion, had been aiming for a national record of 11.80 seconds. She had previously unofficially clocked 11.70 seconds during her training in Islamabad under the guidance of coach Seemi Rizvi.
However, her performance in the Olympic prelims did not meet her expectations or allow her to advance further.
The top seed heading into the semi-finals was Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who posted a blistering time of 10.87 seconds, the only sub-10.9 time of the day.
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