TOKYO — American shooter Amber English set an Olympic record to knock off reigning women’s skeet champion Diana Bacosi of Italy on Monday.
English, who is ranked No. 24 in the world, hit 56 of 60 targets to bounce back from just missing the U.S. team for the 2012 and 2016 Games.
Bacosi matched English by hitting 47 of 50 shots to reach the final, where she missed on her third attempt and a chance to repeat as Olympic champion.
Wei Meng of China took bronze after tying a world record in qualifying.
The finals included four of the world’s top six skeet shooters: Bacosi, Wei, Nadine Messerschmidt of Germany and Russian Natalia Vinogradova.
Top-ranked Amber Hill of Britain did not make the trip to Tokyo after testing positive for COVID-19 just before leaving.
Wei hit 124 of 125 targets in qualifying to tie the world record, but she missed two of her first 14 shots in the final to fall behind Bacosi and English. Wei hit 46 of 50 overall five years after finishing fourth at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
English, who is working toward become an Army officer at Fort Benning, Georgia, comes from a shooting family.
Her father, Michael, won four world championship bronze medals in 10-meter running target from 1982-87. Her uncle competed in international running target events, and her mother and aunt were national-level rifle shooters.
English has been one of the world’s best shooters despite coming up short in qualifying for the past two Olympics.
The 38-year-old finished third at the 2018 world championship and climbed to the top of the ISSF world rankings with seven top-10 finishes the past three years.
English went shot for shot with Bacosi on a steamy afternoon in Tokyo, overcoming a steady breeze to hit 47 of her first 50 targets. She was perfect after reaching the final two with Bacosi, hitting all 10 targets to earn gold in her first Olympics.
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