Jayson Valdez’s Olympic journey came to an end on Sunday after he failed to qualify for the Men’s 10m Air Rifle Shooting Final held at the Asaka Shooting Range.
Valdez finished 44th out of 47 shooters with a score of 612.6 and an average of 102.10 points per shot in qualification.
The Filipino shooter recorded 101.3 points in the first round, 100.5 in the second, 101.6 in the third, 103.6 points in the fourth, 103.5 in the fifth, and 102.1 in the sixth and final round.
The 25-year-old 2015 Southeast Asia Games bronze medalist’s career highlights include the 2010 and 2018 Asian Games, where Valdez set the current Philippine record of 618.6 meters.
When he qualified by continental quota from the Munich-based International Shooting Sports Federation last July, he ended a two-year absence for Philippine shooting (ISSF).
Paul Brian Rosario, who represented the country in the 2012 London Olympics for Men’s skeet, was the most recent shooter to qualify for the Games.
In the men’s 10m air rifle qualification event, an athlete has to shoot 60 shots in 75 minutes. The Filipino bet needed to place in the top eight of the competition to advance.
Yang Haoran of China took the lead with a 632.7 Olympic Qualifying Record, bettering Niccolo Campriani of Italy’s previous best of 630.2 set in 2016.
Lucas Kozeniesky and William Shaner of the United States finished second and third, respectively, with scores of 631.5 and 630.8.
Patrik Jany of Slovakia finished fourth with a score of 630.5, while Omer Akgun of Turkey finished fifth with a score of 629.8.
Russian Vladimir Maslennikov (629.8), Hungarian Istvan Peni (629.4), and Chinese Sheng Lihao (629.2) rounded out the finalists.