(Photo: Alexandre Loureiro/COB)
Brazilian Felipe Wu came fourth in the 10m air pistol final at the Rifle and Pistol Championship of the Americas, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this Tuesday (02). He had a great start and led easily, but was unable to maintain his level and ended up off the podium. As a result, he did not obtain the Olympic place that was at stake in the competition. Caio Silas de Almeida, 20 years old, also competed and finished in sixth place.
How was the final
Wu competed in the qualifiers in the morning and finished in second place, which gave him some favoritism in the final, held hours later. The Olympic medalist started very well, as did Caio, who had placed sixth in the quali. The two even shared second place at the end of the first series of shots, with 49.2, behind only Canadian Tugrul Ozer, who already had an Olympic place.
Felipe Wu took the lead during the second series of shots, in which he scored a 10.9 – in addition to a 10.5 and a 10.0. In addition to being the leader, he managed to open a good advantage over Caio, who was in second place. However, Wu scored 8.8 in the last shot of the series, which made him close the gap to “just 0.3” in relation to Caio, who remained in second place after ten shots.
Yield drop
From then on, the second stage of the final began, which takes place in an elimination format. Each of the eight athletes now had two shots to perform and, at the end of each round, the last placed athlete was eliminated. That’s when Wu and Caio started to slow down. The two scored 8.2 on the first shot and fell to fourth and fifth place. Then, Wu scored 10.4 and Felipe scored 8.8, which made him fall even further.
Meanwhile, young Chilean Diego Parra, 16, grew up in the competition. He, who passed the qualifiers to the limit, taking the last spot in the final, was left in the “knockout” of the final. Parra began to score successive hits at the 10 mark and took the lead of the race, remaining until the end. He took gold with 244.2, almost six points ahead of second place, North American Nickolaus Mowrer.
Felipe Wu also showed signs of recovery in the second round of the knockout stage, scoring 10.4 and 10.3 and moving up to third place. However, he fluctuated and returned to fourth place, where he remained until the end, with 196.9. Caio, on the other hand, was unable to recover from the beginning of the second phase and even scored a 7.8. Thus, the young man finished in sixth place, with 154.1 points.
Olympic place situation
It is worth noting that Brazil already has a guaranteed Olympic place in the 10m air pistol of sports shooting in Paris-2024. It was obtained by Philipe Chateaubrian, after winning gold at the 2022 Americas Championship. The place belongs to the country, not the athlete. Therefore, both Wu and Caio – in addition to Chateaubrian himself – may be selected to use them, depending on the call from the Brazilian Shooting Sports Confederation (CBTE).
Furthermore, Felipe Wu and Caio Silas de Almeida will have another opportunity to obtain another Olympic place for Brazil in the competition. It will be in the Rifle and Pistol Pre-Olympic, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, starting on April 11th. For now, the country only has guaranteed Olympic places in the men’s 10m air pistol and women’s skeet (obtained by Georgia Furquim, in the Rifle Championship of the Americasin February).
22 years old from São Paulo. Journalist graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). I’ve been at Olimpíada Todo Dia since 2022. I covered the World University Games in Chengdu and the Pan-American Games in Santiago-2023.
