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LONDON -- Peter Robert Russel Wilson of Britain hit down 188 targets to win the men's double trap gold medal at the London Olympics here on Thursday.
The 25-year-old world record holder met difficulty in the middle of the final stage, but managed to get out of the danger to harvest the gold.
Hakan Dahlby of Sweden brought home the silver with 186 hits. Russian shooter Vasily Mosin, beating 185 targets, got the bronze.
"It's just like a dream come true," said Wilson after the final. "I'm fortunate."
"I was on my knees. I could not believe the emotions that came right over me. I think in was Ian who grabbed me first and then I saw dad and the rest of the family."
Wilson kept high-level performance on home court, scoring 48, 48, and 47 in the three qualification series to establish a comfortable three-point lead into the final.
However, the final didn't go as smoothly as many local fans had expected. 46-year-old Swedish veteran Dahlby and Russian Mosin kept putting pressure on the shoulder of the British favourite youth in the shooting range.
Dahlby, who missed just one target in the final, narrowed the gap to two points with eight targets left. Wilson made no mistake, hitting all of the remaining eight clays to wrap the gold.
"I don't know how I did it, but I just did it," said Wilson about his final four pairs of targets. "When you go into that situation, you just loss your consciousness."
"You kept doing what you had been doing in the last six years."
Wilson was considered as a shooting genius. He began to compete in 2006, and four months later he found himself on the highest step on the podium at the 2006 European Junior Championships in Slovenia.
However, he lost his fund in 2008, and had to work in the pub to collect money. Then, he was picked up by Athens gold medallist Sheikh Ahmed Maktoum, who was looking to start a coaching career, and his shooting career kept on.
In 2009, he got funded again and began to focus on the preparation for the London Games. He moved to another milestone in his career by breaking the world record at the Tucson World Cup 2012, making him the favourite local shooter to win a shooting medal on home court.
"I shot maybe fourteen or fifteen thousand targets this year, and about eighty thousand last year," said Wilson.
Celebration was also an important topic in the press conference room.
"I will be very, very drunk."
It was also a dream come true for Dahly, who lost the Olympic bronze medal for one target in 2004 and missed the final in 2008.
"I'm extremely happy. I will celebrate my silver medal with champaign, and he (Wilson) will pay," said Dahly.
Mosin's bronze was important for the Russian shooting team, who failed in the last two shotgun shootoffs in London. It was the first medal for the Russian team.
"I am feeling great, anyway I am 50% satisfied, not any more," said Mosin. |
