Vincent Hancock has become the first athlete to win Olympic gold in men’ skeet twice in a row, after dominating qualifying on his way to the final.
The American shot a perfect 25 in the final for a score of 148, setting a new Olympic record. He was two up on silver medallist Anders Golding of Denmark, who managed 24 in the final.
The bronze was decided in a shoot-off between Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiya and Russia’s Valeriy Shomin, the Qatari getting the best of the six-shot knock-out.
After Hancock’s win, the US army sergeant said he didn’t know how he missed the only two targets that beat him during the 150-shot event.
“It’s an amazing feeling, representing my country, and to step back on top of the podium and hear the national anthem, there’s no other feeling like it,” he said.
That feeling was the furthest thing from the mind of Aussie Clive Barton, who finished a disappointing 33rd while battling an illness that hit him when he least needed it.
His team mate Keith Ferguson, who finished 20th on 116, revealed Barton had been at the hospital overnight.
Both Australians recorded flawless shoots in the third round, but it was not enough to boost them in the strong field.
Ferguson said he’d been nervous on the range.
Later today, the women’s 25m pistol medals will be up for grabs, and Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya and Hayley Chapman will take their places in the event.
Yauhleuskaya will be aiming to improve on her 40th place in Sunday’s air pistol event, while 20-year-old Chapman will make her Olympic debut – perhaps with a little encouragement from her father, David, who’ll front the men’s rapid fire pistol on Thursday.
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