Shooting | Defending champion Hiltrop misses Paralympics final

Gold candidate Natascha Hiltrop was surprisingly eliminated in the qualification at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The sports shooter only came ninth in the qualification for the R3 starting class with the air rifle and missed the final of the best eight scheduled for the afternoon by 0.2 rings. The Tokyo winner had a weak start to the competition, and despite an improvement, 633.6 rings were ultimately not enough.

The second German starter, Tjark Liestmann (632.5), finished 13th at the Chateauroux Shooting Center. Women and men competed with the air rifle prone over 10 m in a joint ranking.

Hiltrop, who is partially paraplegic, ended the 17-year drought of German para-shooters without a title with her gold medal in the small-caliber rifle in Tokyo, and she also won silver in the three-position competition.

On Tuesday she has another chance for a medal in the three-position competition in Chateauroux, and she will also be competing in the small-bore prone rifle on Thursday.