Shooter secures NZ’s first medal at Olympics

Australian shooter Catherine Skinner had never been to an Olympics or won a senior global competition before arriving in Rio.

The 26-year-old Skinner hit 12 of her 15 orange targets with her shotgun to Rooney’s 11, but she got off to a rough start by missing the first target.

Skinner’s win gives Australia the lead among all countries in the ranking of gold medals, with three: one in shooting and two in swimming.

“I have had plenty of finals when I missed the first shot and it went downhill from there”, said Skinner, who won her first gold medal in a major worldwide competition. Cogdell-Unrein hit her shot and Galvez missed, giving Cogdell-Unrein a bronze to match the one she earned at the 2008 Beijing Games.

After qualifying at the bottom of the six finalists, Skinner was a steady shot in the semi-finals blasting 14 of the 15 targets and went straight to the final, prevailing over a veteran field including defending Olympic champion Jessica Rossi. “But I knew if I smoothed out and do what I normally do, I could still continue to shoot a good final and that’s what I did”.

“It made me a bit more angry instead of being nervous and locking up”, Skinner said of the difficulties.

Skinner’s victory was Australia’s second Olympic gold medal in the history of the women’s trap event, following Suzanne Balogh’s gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

While Skinner celebrated gold, it was heartbreak for her teammate, Australia’s two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Laetisha Scanlan.

But the Italian police officer was unable to repeat her arresting London 2012 performance, finishing sixth.

The result came just a day after Virginia Thrasher of the United States clinched a shock triumph in the women’s 10-metre air rifle final, joining Skinner in gilded glory.

As Skinner soaked up her triumph, she paid tribute to the support of her family and friends, as well as the staff at RMIT, where she graduated with a degree in chemical engineering.

Rooney won through to the medal match after going 13 from 15 in regulation and then defeating America’s Corey Cogdell in a shoot off.