Sarasota's Mary Tucker takes Olympic silver medal in Mixed Air Rifle

On Tuesday, shooter Mary Tucker joined swimmer Emma Weyant as Tokyo Olympians from Sarasota bringing home a medal. 

Tucker and her partner, Lucas Kozeniesky, took a silver medal in the Mixed 10-meter Air Rifle.

The pair almost bowed out early. In the first stage of qualification, the team finished seventh, with the top eight teams advancing. Despite squeaking by, the pair put together a much better performance in the second stage of qualification, finishing second and earning a final match against China's Qian Yang and Haoran Yang. 

In the gold-medal match, each athlete took one shot per round. The pairs' scores were added up, and the pair with the highest score received two points. If the pairs had the same score, they each received one point. The first team to obtain 17 points would win.

The match was tied 11-11 through 10 rounds, but China pulled away late to win 17-13. 

Tucker, a Sarasota Military Academy grad and a national champion at the University of Kentucky, previously finished sixth in the Women's 10-meter Air Rifle at the Olympics. 

For more information on Tucker or the sport of Olympic shooting, read the Observer's guide to the sport. For a full schedule of shooting and other events, visit the official Olympics website.