CHATEAUROUX, France (AP) — Chile won its first Olympic gold medal in 20 years when Francisca Crovetto took victory in the women’s skeet, while Britain’s Amber Rutter took silver just over three months after becoming a mother.
Crovetto won the gold in a shoot-off, hitting her last two targets for the win after a disputed call to give Rutter a miss for a shot which, TV replays showed, had seemed to clip the target.
Crovetto and Rutter had finished equal on 55 out of 60 to force the shoot-off.
Crovetto is the first Chilean gold medalist since the 2004 Athens Olympics, when Nicolás Massú won men’s tennis gold in singles and in doubles with Fernando González.
Chile had not won an Olympic medal of any kind since 2008 and its only shooting medal was a skeet silver in 1988 for Alfonso de Iruarrízaga, when skeet was a mixed-gender event.
Rutter reached the Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 at the age of 18 and was a favorite for a medal in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 until a positive test for COVID-19 two days before the opening ceremony. Rutter had to abandon her plans to fly to Japan and has spoken of struggling with depression after missing the Olympics.
She gave birth in April to a son, Tommy, and celebrated with him after winning the silver medal.
Austen Smith won the bronze for the United States a day after her coach, Vincent Hancock, won his fourth gold medal in men’s skeet.
Smith and Hancock will team up Monday for the United States in the mixed team skeet event. Another of Hancock’s students, Conner Prince, won the men’s silver and will take part in the mixed event with Dania Vizzi, who placed 12th Sunday in women’s skeet.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
