CHATEAUROUX, France (AP) — Chile won its first Olympic gold medal in 20 years on Sunday when Francisca Crovetto took victory in the women’s skeet, while Amber Rutter of Britain took silver a little more than 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 that 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.
“This is way sport goes, unfortunately. l truly believe I did hit that last target. I just don’t want it to take away from any of the other girls’ performances,” Rutter said, calling for video reviews at future competitions to ensure “a level playing field.”
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.
“I still don’t believe it,” said Crovetto, a 34-year-old four-time Olympian. “It is a dream come true. I am living my childhood dream.”
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. She 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.
“It has honestly been a crazy few months and really tough balancing life with a newborn and fitting in training and everything else going on in my life,” Rutter said.
“After the disappointment of Tokyo, I wanted to quit altogether. I only carried on competing to get a roof over my head and pay the bills. … To come back now and secure a silver medal feels like everything was meant to happen this way.”
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.
“He’s like a father figure to me. Whenever I get to shoot with him, it’s like shooting back at home,” said Smith, an aerospace engineering student from the University of Texas who said she considered retiring after the Paris Games, rather than carrying on to Los Angeles in 2028.
“I’m a little bit on the fence right now. I’ve got to spend time back in the classroom right now. That’s my No. 1 priority, and that’s what I am first, a student. But I also do like the sound of LA, I’m not going to lie.”
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 on Sunday in women’s skeet.
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