Kimberly Rhode earned women’s skeet gold for the second consecutive year at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in New Delhi.
The American shooter, a six-time Olympic medalist, dominated the majority of the final at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Rhode took the lead immediately and looked to pull away from her rivals, but a rare double miss on the fourth station allowed reigning Olympic champion Diana Bacosi to catch up.
The Italian star was able to level the scores, with both athletes equalling the world record of 56 hits out of 60.
Both shooters maintained the high standard in the shoot-off, until Bacosi missed on the 22nd additional target.
She was forced to settle for the silver medal, with Rhode retaining the ISSF globe.
The podium was rounded off by world champion Diana Jo Vizzi, as the American achieved 44 hits from the 50 targets.
France’s Celine Goberville emerged as the winner of the women’s 10 metres air pistol competition, after achieving a total score of 240.9 points.
It added to the silver medal she claimed in yesterday’s 10m air pistol mixed team event with Florian Fouquet.
Goberville finished clear of China’s Lin Yuemei, who took the silver by managing to score 237 in the final.
China’s Zhang Mengxue won bronze for the second straight year, after bowing out of the competition with a score of 218.7.
The final gold of the day was earned by Istvan Peni, with the Hungarian having scored 249.8 points in the men’s 10m air rifle.
The 20-year-old’s score equalled the junior world record for the discipline.
Belarus’ Vitali Bubnovich and Hungary’s Peter Sidi rounded off the top three, securing medals with scores of 249.5 and 228.5 points respectively.
***Editor’s Note: Kim Rhode was awarded the United States Sports Academy’s 2016 Distinguished Service Award.***
By Michael Pavitt
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.