Olympic shooting has dished out incredible highs and lows in the first two days of competition at the London Games, but none so devastating as Aussie Lauryn Mark’s disastrous form in women’s skeet.
While the USA’s Kim Rhode fulfilled her Olympic dream of becoming the first American to win a medal in individual sports at five Games in a row, Lauryn crashed in her first qualifying shoot, hitting just 17 of the 25 targets.
The Australian has not been in form since arriving in London, and says she’s gutted and has been struggling, nervous and panicky.
She hasn’t felt comfortable in the Woolwich Royal Artillery Barracks grounds, and had been dealing with criticism over accommodation arrangements and her bikini photo-shoot in Zoo.
She recovered to score a respectable 22 in her second qualifying round but dropped back to 20 in the third, missing any chance of making the finals and coming 15th overall with a score of 59.
Kim Rhode, meanwhile, was on fire, adding a third Olympic gold medal to a tally that includes a silver and a bronze.
She set a new qualifying record with scores of 25, 25 and 24 for 74, four targets up on second-placed Danka Bartekova of Slovakia. Rhode shot a perfect final, equalling her own world record and earning an overall score of 99. Bartekova slipped to third after hitting just 20 targets in the final and China’s Wei Ning shot 23 to rise to the silver medal place.
The 33-year-old American has another crack at a medal in women’s trap next Saturday, and has confirmed she has her sights set on the 2016 Games as her sensational career goes from strength to strength.
Other results
Dina Aspandiyarova score Australia’s best shooting result of the Games to date, finishing 14th in the women’s 10m air pistol. Her score of 382 was only three points from the finals. Her team mate Lalita Yauhleuskaya shot 371.
China had a dominant weekend that included Guo Wenjun taking gold in the women’s 10m air pistol, ahead of silver medallist Celine Goberville (France) and bronze medallist Olena Kostevych (Ukraine).
The first medal event of the 2012 games, women’s 10m air rifle, was won by China’s Yi Siling, who just edged out Poland’s Sylwais Bogacka. Both qualified with 399 but Yi managed a finals score of 103.9 to the Pole’s 103.2. China’s Yu Dan earned the bronze medal.
Aussies Robyn Van Nus and Alethea Sedgman qualified with scores of 391 and 387 respectively, short of the 397 needed for a potential finals berth.
Korean Jin Jong Oh won gold in the men’s 10m air pistol, his superior qualifying score keeping him up front in the final despite silver medallist Luca Tesconi of Italy topping the final. Serbia’s Andrija Zlatic was third.
Australian Daniel Repacholi’s qualifying score of 575 put him 28th in the air pistol event, eight shots short of the finals.
China is well ahead in the shooting medal tally, with two golds, a silver and a bronze. Korea and the US have a gold each and no nation other than China has won more than one medal.
The men’s 10m air rifle medals will be awarded today, while the first of two days of men’s skeet gets underway.
Dane Sampson and William Godward line up for Australia in the air rifle shoot, and Keith Fergusson and Clive Barton fly the flag in skeet.
For full results, see the Olympic shooting website.
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