LEONE ON TARGET IN METAL CHASE

Swiss keeps her cool in tense final to get her hands on gold and a piece of the Eiffel Tower

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Switzerland's Chiara Leone ensured Olympic gold in the women's 50-metre rifle three positions remained in her country's possession, after triumphing in a rollercoaster final at the Paris Games on Aug 2.

The top five in the eight-strong field frequently exchanged places heading into the elimination round where the 26-year-old prevailed with an Olympic record tally of 464.4.

American Sagen Maddalena (463) won the silver while Chinese world champion Zhang Qiongyue (452.9) took bronze.

"I knew I could win," said Leone, after exceeding her own goal of making the eight-strong final at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.

"I wanted a medal. I wanted a piece of the Eiffel Tower in my hands, and winning is just... I can't describe how I feel."

A hexagon-shaped chunk of metal taken from the famous monument is embedded in each of the Paris Olympics medals.

Maddalena and Zhang had topped qualification on Aug 1 and were in the mix in the drama-filled final. The former reclaimed the lead after the prone section but could not hold on to it for long as the latter surged ahead after the standing segment.