Nathan Hales won Team GB’s third gold medal of the Olympics with a record-breaking display in the trap shooting final. The 28-year-old, making his debut at the Games, edged out Qi Ying of China to claim the spoils with a dominant performance.
Hales led for almost the entire event and was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, deservedly taking the gold medal. He finished with a four-shot advantage over Ying and set a new Olympic record with 48 successful attempts out of 50, surpassing the previous benchmark of 43.
His score was only one short of his world-record tally of 49, which he managed to set last year in Italy.
Six shooters entered the final but only three remained with 15 targets left as Hales guaranteed himself a medal alongside Qi, with Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas of Guatemala taking bronze. Brol Cardenas was the first of the final three to drop out and Hales never looked like surrendering his advantage to Ying as he cruised to a dominant victory.
The former world champion breezed through the opening rounds before missing a shot with just four players remaining, which allowed Ying to draw level. However, the latter missed an attempt of his own moments later with Hales keeping calm to regain the upper hand.
Ying missed another effort in the gold medal shootout, giving Hales more breathing room before his status as the newly-crowned Olympic champion was confirmed.
His triumph marked Team GB’s third gold medal of the Olympics after Tom Pidcock in the men’s cross-country cycling and Tom McEwen, Ros Canter and Laura Collett in the equestrian team eventing. It also marked their first gold in trap shooting for 56 years, with Bob Braithwaite the last British athlete to claim top spot in 1968.
In trap shooting, each competitor shoots at 25 targets after which the sixth-placed athlete is eliminated. The lowest-ranked competitor is then eliminated after every subsequent five shots each.
When only two athletes remain, they each shoot at another 10 targets with their overall score determining the winner.
