Olympic champion Lipták is the European trap shooting champion for the second time
Jiří Lipták became European champion in trap shooting for the second time. The Olympic champion dominated the championship in Larnaca, Cyprus, not missing a single target in the final and followed up on the gold from 2019.
Jiří Lipták at the shooting range.
| Photo: Deník/Jiří Sláma
In addition, he ensured the Czech Republic a place to participate in the next Olympic Games 2024 in Paris. “I’m glad that I shot the so-called quota place for the Olympics for the Czechia on the first possible attempt. It will give me peace of mind for the next races,” said Lipták.
Czech shotgun shooters have been holding a European medal streak in this discipline since 2017. David Kostelecký started here in Baku with gold, and Lipták then continued in it in every other championship.
With two penalties, Líšeň triggered the derby in Vyškov and leads the table again
He was third in Leobersdorf 2018, a year later he triumphed in Lonat and added silver last year in Osijek. The previous year, the planned European Championship in Chateauroux, France, did not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. In total, Lipták has six medals from the EC, half of which he won in Cyprus: ten years ago in Larnaca, he was second, and he brought his first bronze in 2008 from Nicosia. “It is our favorite destination, last year I was second here at the World Cup final behind David Kostelecky,” Lipták recalled another success from Larnaca.
Lipták won the two-day qualification in Cyprus, he was the only one to make only two mistakes. Vladimír Štěpán was twelfth, Olympic champion from Beijing Kostelecký took forty-first place.
The 40-year-old native of Brno also dominated his semi-final group, while British defending champion Matthew Coward-Holley failed in the second. Last year in Tokyo, Coward-Holley won Olympic bronze behind Lipták and Kostelecky.
In the four-man final, Lipták hit all fifteen initial targets and was certain of a medal. He then entered the fight for the gold with Rickard Levin-Andersson from Sweden with four hits and could start celebrating after the thirty-first accurate shot. Bronze was won by British shooter Nathan Hales. “It is the second time that the races ended prematurely under the new rules. The first time was at the World Cup in Baku, where I also won,” said Lipták.
European Shotgun Championship
Men, trap: 1. Lipták (Czech Republic) 31, 2. Levin-Andersson (Swed.) 25, 3. Hales (Britain), … in qualification 12. Štěpán, 41. Kostelecký, 53. Vaněk, 54. Beccari ( all of the Czech Republic).
Women, trap: 1. Stancová (It.) 32, 2. Hallová (Brit.) 31, 3. Rossiová (It.).