USA’s Kimberly Rhode won gold in women’s skeet at the ISSF World Cup Final in Rome, Italy on Wednesday.
Rhode had cleared the semi-final with 14 hits out of 16 shots, passing through a three-way shoot-off with +7 to access the gold medal match. In the gold medal match, Rhode beat China’s Wei Meng by 16 to 15 hits.
The 37-year-old had also shot against Wei in a bronze medal match and had claimed the medal at Rio Olympics.
Today’s bronze medal went to the World No. 4 Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit of Thailand, who scored 15 targets (semi-final: 14+6+3) to beat Italy’s Olympic Champion Diana Bacosi, 4th with 14 hits in the bronze medal match (semi-final: 13+6).
Bacosi’s teammate, the 2008 Olympic Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Chiara Cainero, took the 5th place with 13 hits in the semi-final, after losing a shoot-off against Bacosi to access the bronze medal match. She was followed by Cyprus’ Andri Eleftheriou, 6th with 12 hits.
Rhode confirmed once again to be one the best Skeet shooters of the world, just two months after winning an Olympic bronze in Rio, where she collected her sixth Olympic medal in six consecutive Games.
Starting with the Olympic title she won in Atlanta 1996 in Double Trap, and passing through a Bronze in Sydney and a Gold in Athens in the same event, Rhode eventually switched to Skeet when the Double Trap Women event was discontinued from the Olympic Program, in 2005.
In Beijing 2008 she competed in her “new” event, women’s Skeet, securing Silver, and then moved on winning the title at the London Games. In Rio, she achieved a record by pocketing her sixth medal in six consecutive Olympic editions, showing exceptional stamina and a great motivation.
