Mijno lifts Italian bronze count to four

Italy’s Elisabetta Mijno has one Donaueschingen bronze medal in the bag, and the opportunity to take a second.

Partnered with Roberto Airoldi, Mijno beat Korea in a shoot-off to claim the podium finish. The Italians put down 19 total in the tiebreaker, a 10 and a nine, while their opponents only managed 15.

It’s was a good sign, after Mijno complained of issues with her shoulder placement causing discomfort earlier in the week. She explained the problem was only when shooting, with her shoulder riding high when aiming.

“The shoulder is much better at the moment,” she said. “Hopefully it feels even better for my match on Sunday.”

If her shooting on Saturday, during the mixed team final, was anything to go by, Elisabetta has dealt with whatever issue was causing her problems.

The mixed team medal was the fourth bronze of Italy’s team finals day in Donaueschingen, after Italian compounders picked up gongs in the women’s and men’s open team categories, and the mixed team.

Mijno, the reigning European Para Archery Champion, has sights set on doubling her medal count in the individual competition.

She was knocked out by top seed Wu Chunyan in the eliminations, 6-2. Mijno took more off the Chinese athlete than anyone else in the tournament. The set Chunyan lost to Elisabetta was the only set she lost in individual competition all week. 

Wu shot fantastically all week, winning qualification by 55 points, and gold in the recurve open mixed team competition. Mijno didn’t hide behind the Chinese archer’s strong shooting with her own disappointment for not making the final.

“I shot well for most of the week but in the semis I didn’t perform like I’m capable to, so I wasn’t happy with that,” the 29-year-old silver medallist at the London 2012 Paralympics said.

“For me, losing is not a problem as long as I look to improve. I am a happy girl that always looks positively at things.”

Mijno faces Irina Rossiyskaya of Russia in the bronze medal match as she looks to add to Italy’s growing medal tally.