The shooters are loading up for the WC – but aiming for the Olympics

The margins in shooting are small. So small that the naked eye cannot distinguish the decisive millimeters.

Victor Lindgren doesn't need to be reminded of those margins. Two years ago, he ended up less than a millimeter from the Olympic gold.

Lindgren, who is now the world's highest-ranked air rifle shooter at a distance of ten meters, is not upset that he missed out on the gold. On the contrary. A medal was just a bonus for the then 21-year-old.

The plan was that he would start competing for Olympic medals only four years later, during the Los Angeles Olympics. That journey begins now, during a World Cup where medals are not the biggest prize.

- The goal is a quota place. The medal is secondary. If you give Sweden a quota place, it's clear, and then you can focus completely on the Olympics, says Lindgren.

By quota place, he means a place in the Summer Olympics in 2028. The WC in Doha is the first competition where this additional prize is awarded.

- But securing a place is difficult. A WC is much more difficult to win than an Olympics. There is certainly much more pressure at an Olympics, but there are more people competing in a WC, says Lindgren.

A high number of participation in a sport with small margins and where the form of the day is of great importance means that no one can be safe during a WC competition. Lindgren himself became an example of this, when he won WC gold in Baku 2023 - before he was ranked top 100 in the world.

In the finals, he defeated Yang Haoran. The Chinese is also an example of how important daily form is – not only to perform in the Olympics, but also to get there. He got a quota place, but he was still not seen in Paris the year after the WC silver.

- He is really the best in modern times. He took world records, WC and World Cup medals. He qualified for the Olympics but was not allowed to go. He did not shoot well enough in the selection.

With him to the WC, Victor has a shooter he has known for a long time, Jesper Johansson. The 21-year-old has been shooting since he was six years old and since he turned eight he has regularly competed against Lindgren.

He is two years younger than the world number one and the friend he "almost sees as an idol".

- I already saw him as world number one when we were little. He was the best at what he did. We didn't compete internationally, but we sat at home in the associations and he was the best in Skåne, says Johansson.

Johansson has three bronze medals and one gold medal from the junior EC, as well as a bronze medal in the senior EC. In other words, he has already moved on to senior competitions, but it is only now that he no longer has any foot left on the junior side.

- This is the first year that I actually have to move to the senior class, and last year I focused a lot on the last junior competitions I had left in my career.

The junior class has no world ranking and the junior effort left Johansson outside the senior ranking, where he sat in 40th place a few years ago.

- I was younger then and I shoot better today, says Johansson, who believes she has the right conditions to establish herself high on the world rankings in the coming season.

According to the plan, the senior career should include at least two Olympics: Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. However, he feels, like Lindgren, that an Olympic place is not something you can take for granted.

Johansson believes that you can think that the Olympics are already underway, but that the "final" is the one held in Los Angeles in 2028.

- Once you are there, it is only a very small part of your own Olympics. There is a very long way to go, with quota places, lots of training and World Cups. Then you also have to make sure you are in top shape before and during the Olympics, so there is a long way to go.

Are you starting to get stressed if you don't qualify for the Olympics now during the WC?

- No, it would not have been. There are many competitions left to win quota places after the WC. But it would have been incredibly nice to take them early. There will be a lot of pressure if you don't get a place during the first competitions.