Paris 2024: Hiltrop clinches first R6 mixed gold on final day

Natascha Hiltrop clinched the last gold medal on offer - the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone gold with a Games record - as the shooting Para sport competition concluded at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre on Thursday (5 September).

This was Hiltrop's second gold at Paris 2024 Games after the R8 - women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 gold two days ago, and her first R6 - mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 gold since her Paralympic debut at London 2012.

In the only event on the final day, the 32-year-old German started off on a slow pace before surging in the leaderboard with a couple of 10.9s. She finished with 10.8 and 10.1 in the last competition series for a total of 250.2, finishing ahead of Sweden's Anna Benson (248.8) - who picked up her first medal at the Games on the day.

French shooter Jean-Louis Michaud claimed his first ever Paralympic medal taking the bronze with 227.8 points.

Among other top stars, two-time champion in Paris 2024 Jinho Park of Korea ended in sixth place. 

Hiltrop admitted of making some mistakes in the start which she amended later. “I knew what I did wrong and went from there. I am very content with my performance. It was a hard competition.”

“The competition was exhilarating but also exhausting, and a lot of fun,” she said. 

In the medals table, South Korea finished on top with six medals that had three gold medals followed by China and Germany with two gold medals each.