Rhode Rides On Determination to Clinch Gold in Skeet

Rhode Rides On Determination to Clinch Gold in Skeet
2012 London Summer Olympics

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London, England

Veteran American skeet shooter, Kim Rhode's perseverance is leading her to greater heights with each passing Olympic Games. She missed just one clay pigeon out of 100, becoming the United States' first individual medallist at five consecutive Games.

Winner of shooting medals at Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), she was in sublime form on way to a record-equaling performance at the Royal Artillery Barracks. China, who have been striking gold in the pistol and rifle categories with monotonous regularity, had to settle for silver with Wei Ning doing the honors, while Danka Bartekova of Slovakia claimed the bronze after a shoot-off.

The achievement is all the more creditable as the 33-year-old Rhode, who had won gold in women's double trap in Atlanta and Athens, and bronze in Sydney, switched to skeet after women's double trap was removed from the Olympic curriculum after the Athens Games. She then went on to win the skeet silver in Beijing, before getting back to golden ways in London.

It was a tumultuous day for the clay pigeon shooters as a bright start was interrupted by storms and showers. But rain relented in the final and Rhode was an easy winner with 99 hits and one miss. Wei was eight points adrift at 91, while Bartekova (90) finally laid here hands on the bronze after a shoot-off with Russia's Marina Belikova.

Rhode shot a perfect 25 in the final, her only miss coming in the qualification round, where she secured 74/75.

China's 28-year-old Guo Wenjun didn't quite enjoy the same victory margin as Rhode in 10m air pistol, coming from behind on the last shot to successfully defend her Olympic title in a thriller of a contest. Guo shot a 10.8, just 0.1 points short of the maximum score, to push Celine Goberville to second spot after the Frenchwoman led till the second-last shot.

Goberville shot a pedestrian 8.8 bringing her level with Athens 2004 gold-medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine. In a shoot-off, Goberville secured the silver.

Skeet scores:

1. Kimberly Rhode (US) 99;

2. Wei Ning (China) 91;

3. Danka Bartekova (Slovakia) 90;

4. Marina Belikova (Russia) 90;

5. Chiara Cainero (Italy) 89;

6. Christine Wenzel (Germany) 89.