Aleksi Leppä finished sixth in the miniature rifle position competition of the World Shooting Championships held in Baku. The dispersion of vertical shooting watered down the Finn’s medal dreams in the final.
Finland Aleksi Leppä finished sixth in the 50-meter miniature rifle position competition of the World Shooting Championships held in Baku. Gold was taken by Austria Alexander Schmirlthe Czech Republic took silver Petr Nymbursky and the bronze was grabbed by India Akhil Sheoran.
In the finals of the 50-meter rifle shooting position competition, three five-shot series were shot from the knee, three five-shot series from the prone position, and three five-shot series from the upright position.
After the series shot from the knee, Leppä was fifth in the final. In prone shooting, the 28-year-old Finn dropped to sixth place, when India’s Sheoran managed to falter and rose to second place behind Lepä before vertical shooting. As for Leppä, there was a lot of dispersion in the vertical shooting hits, which ultimately left the Finn in sixth place.
In the final, four country spots were available for next year’s Paris Olympics. Czech Republic’s Nymbursky and fourth-placed Ukraine Serhii Kulish had already secured the places, so Lepä’s sixth place was enough for Finland’s Olympic place.
The last time Finland had an Olympic representation in rifle sports was in 2012, when Marjo Yli-Kiikka competed in London in both small rifle and air rifle shooting.
This weekend, Finland has already secured three spots for the Olympics.
On Saturday, he won silver in the skeet World Cup Eetu Kallioinen became the first Finnish shooter to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Landing came on Saturday also in sailing, when Kaarle Tapper achieved the second place for Finland in the World Championships in The Hague in the sailing regatta of the Olympic Games in Paris.