Shooting, Jessica Rossi wins gold and Olympic pass in the trap: “Paris is my goal”

At the European Games in Krakow, Italia Team can now celebrate its fifth Olympic quota – achieved in trap shooting – for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Jessica Rossi won the gold medal in trap ensuring the Azzurri took the second and final national place available after the one obtained by Silvana Stanco with her triumph at the European Championships in Larnaca (Cyprus) last August.

At the Wroclaw Shooting Centre, the London 2012 Olympic champion was the talk of the town right from the qualifying round, which she concluded with the top score (123/125).

The Italian was also the best in her own ranking match, in which she gained access to the final four thanks to a score of 22/25.

Despite the high stakes, Rossi did not falter in the gold medal match. Here she brought all her greater experience to bear on her opponents, taking first place with a score of 28/35. Silver went to Finland’s Satu Silja Paivikki Makela-Nummela (26/35) while the bronze was secured by Slovakia’s Jana Spotakova (17/25).

For Italy, this is the second Olympic gold medal in shooting at the Polish competition after the one secured by Martina Bartolomei in skeet.

“This competition reminded me of the London Olympics, the same sensations. I’m here, I am still the same Jessica Rossi as in 2012”. That summed up the joy of the London Olympic champion after her gold medal in trap at the European Games. “Yesterday was a perfect day, I did nothing wrong - said Jessica Rossi -. But then I got food poisoning, with vomiting and fever all night, at 3.30 a.m. I was struggling to stand up. It was really difficult, I slept very little, my stomach was still not great, but everything went as it should. I arrived prepared and calm in Krakow and have managed to bring home the Olympic pass. And then came a gold in the only competition missing from my trophy collection”.

“Paris 2024? After the disappointment of Tokyo, I decided to continue and I gave myself this goal - continued the Italian shooter -. It was not easy at all, the level had risen so much and then, for the Olympics in Japan, I had worked so hard but it was not even enough to get into the final. I went ahead putting my all into it, I had ups and downs, difficult moments but I put a lot of hard work in from a technical point of view".

“We made important changes, which were not easy to accept - explained Jessica Rossi -. I am proud of the work done together with the coach, now we continue the path towards Paris with a bit more serenity. I have never changed: every athlete has ups and downs. At times it was not easy to accept the difficult moments, but I knew where I had to go. I tried to maintain my concentration without ever getting complacent. Turning 31 and accepting the changes after all the wins was not easy: I faced everything with great humility, I’ve never changed. And now I’m reaping the results”.