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Caroline Bredlinger Debuts at Tokyo Worlds After Recovery From 2014 Shooting

She still carries 24 bullet fragments from a 2014 shooting that reshaped her career.

Overview

  • The 24-year-old opens her first World Championships in the 800m heats in Tokyo today, aiming to finish in the top three of her race to reach the semifinals.
  • She qualified with a 1:58.95 personal best to win the Team-EM race in Maribor after breaking two minutes in Vienna and then winning ISTAF Berlin.
  • At age 13 she was hit by a rifle shot fired from a nearby balcony, and the projectile shattered on her pelvic bone, leaving 24 metal fragments.
  • Doctors decided against removing the fragments due to the risk of harming healthy tissue, and she still experiences pain and a weaker left leg.
  • The shooter was convicted of serious bodily injury, and she later declined his attempted apology.