Army Sgt. Sagen Maddalena reacts to winning the silver medal in the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, in Chateauroux, France on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. At right is gold medal winner Chiara Leone of Switzerland. (Kulani Lakanaria/U.S. Army)

CHATEAUROUX, France – Army Sgt. Sagen Maddalena’s performance Friday during the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position final at the Paris Olympics mimicked a rollercoaster.

The 30-year-old began on a high, sitting in first place through her first 30 shots in both the kneeling and prone positions.

But just like after the first big climb of an amusement park ride, her fortunes plunged early in the standing position. Maddalena tumbled out of medal contention at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre with single-digit shots before the first eliminations.

The Army Marksmanship Unit member didn’t let that keep her down, though, and managed to rise back up while others struggled, leaving the finals hall with a silver medal in hand after totaling 463 points.

“I assessed and addressed and then was able to pull myself back together, the next-shot mentality of got-to-let-those-go,” Maddalena said. “It cost me in the end, but I still climbed back.”

While it may have cost her gold, it didn’t derail her goal of making the podium.

The silver was Maddalena’s first Olympic medal in her fourth event.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks alumna had fallen just short of the medal places twice before. She finished fifth in the event in Tokyo three years ago and was fourth in the women’s 10-meter air rifle on Monday in Chateauroux.

On Friday, Switzerland’s Chiara Leone set a new Olympic record with 464.4 points to take the gold. China’s Qiongyue Zhang snagged the bronze with 452.9 points.

Sagen Maddalena, a sergeant with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, aims at the target on her way to winning the silver medal in the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, in Chateauroux, France on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Kulani Lakanaria/U.S. Army)

Sagen Maddalena, a sergeant with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, shows off silver medal after finishing second in the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, in Chateauroux, France on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Kulani Lakanaria/U.S. Army)

Army Sgt. Sagen Maddalena smiles and waves to the crowd before accepting her silver medal after placing second in the women’s 50-meter three-position rifle competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. Chiara Leone of Switzerland took the gold medal, while China’s Qiongyue Zhang finished third at Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

For Maddalena, it’s been a stressful week in central France as she tried to get that elusive piece of hardware. She described how it messed with her sleeping and eating habits.

“It’s amazing. I’ve got no words for it,” Maddalena said. “I haven’t been able to eat right for so long, just the nerves and everything. I was just so uptight.”

The 5-foot-4 native of California entered Friday’s final with the top qualification score and carried over that form through the first two positions.

Taking three series of five shots in both kneeling and prone, Maddalena posted four 10.7s and a 10.8 in her first 10 tries in kneeling. She added another three 10.8s in prone as she jumped out to a total of 314.

Yet her start to the standing position was disastrous. Her second and fourth shots were so errant at 8.1 and 8.8 points that she went from being ahead by 0.7 points to out of second and third place by 1.5 points.

Her final four before the first two eliminations stabilized her into fifth place, but the 98.9 points over the 10 shots almost was catastrophic.

“I knew what I had done,” Maddalena said. “My NPA (natural point of aim) was a little off, so I was pushing it out,” Maddalena said. “It looked like good shots, but the nerves and everything pushed them out.”

The elimination round consisted of single attempts in the standing position, with the lowest scorer eliminated after each series of shots.

Continuing the up-and-down theme on the day, Maddalena popped off a 10.8 on the second shot in the round, which, combined with other shooters’ results, catapulted her to the top of the table.

Two shots later with just three competitors remaining, Maddalena once again found herself on the chopping block, trailing by 0.2. Her 9.9 was good enough to tie her with Zhang, the 2023 world champion, and forced a shoot-off. Maddalena staved off elimination, defeating the 20-year-old 10.1-8.7

“You know, I get to shoot another shot,” Maddalena said of her thoughts heading into the shootout. “OK, they haven’t told me to sit down yet, next shot. It’s literally all it was, just doing my process.”

Maddalena couldn’t overcome a deficit of 0.7 points with her last shot, especially as Leone blasted a nearly perfect 10.8.

Maddalena’s medal didn’t just end her quest but also a drought for USA Shooting.

Three years after taking three golds and six medals overall at the Tokyo Olympics, the Americans hadn’t picked up a single medal in the Paris Games and had just Maddalena and men’s trap shooter Derrick Mein advance to any finals prior to Monday.

So, the relief was double for Maddalena, who said she plans to celebrate the silver with her father, Randy – as well as with a cup of coffee and a good meal.

“It kind of got me in the head for a second, but then I was like, ‘All right, I just got to do my job. And if I do my job right, I can set myself up for a medal,’ ” Maddalena said. “That’s all I can ask for, and I came home with one.”