Disappointed Olympic Four: "I came here to go all the way"

The clay pigeon shooter Rickard Levin Andersson had a firm grip on an Olympic Games medal in trap – but blew it. Three straight misses in the final gave the 33-year-old a fourth place. It's sour. Damn it, he says afterwards.

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Disappointed Olympic Four: "I came here to go all the way"
Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

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Rickard Levin Andersson holds up his thumb and index finger towards the Swedes in the audience at the shooting arena Châteauroux, 28 miles from Paris in the French countryside.

"It was this close", the 33-year-old sheet metal worker from Skepplanda wanted to convey with his fingers. It was this close to an Olympic Games medal.

The margins are so damn small, I think I started a bit too early. Maybe I'm a bit tense, says a disappointed shooter afterwards.

It wasn't nerves or a sudden gust of wind that haunted him. He's searching for the answer to what went wrong.

Three straight misses

Levin Andersson had a long grip on at least a bronze, but three straight misses on the Swede's last five targets in the final meant that the 33-year-old missed out on shooting for the medals.

Instead, Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas from Guatemala could sneak past and eventually snatched the bronze that Levin Andersson had long had in his hand.

Before he missed three straight, the Swede had hit 29 out of 31 targets.

The conditions on the shooting range were as warm as possible, with temperatures up to 40 degrees, and Levin Andersson sweated profusely but says he wasn't particularly affected.

When he tries to evaluate the fourth place, he thinks he'll be able to appreciate it tomorrow, but not right now.

It's worthless, but that's how it is. I came here to go all the way.

When his family is mentioned, he breaks down, he had his mom, dad, partner, and his two children, aged eight and nine, in the stands.

It's thanks to them I'm here.

Shooting is generally a sport that costs a lot to practice, plus all the travels. Levin Andersson holds up the ammunition.

This costs a bit.

Had to take time off

National team captain Therese Lundqvist notes that all sports have their economic challenges. It's thanks to the support from the Swedish Sports Confederation and the Swedish Olympic Committee that the investment can continue.

He has very good managers, so it's possible to solve. Before this Olympic Games, he got time off and didn't work 100 percent, she says.

Nathan Hales, Great Britain, took the gold and Chinese Qi Ying the silver. Hales hit 48 out of 50 targets and it's a new Olympic record.

For Levin Andersson, the investment towards the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028 now begins.

I came fourth, as I said, this isn't good enough.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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