Ennio Falco

Ennio Falco started skeet shooting when he secretly borrowed his father’s rifle at age 12. By age 28, he had become Olympic champion in Atlanta, beating favored team mate Andrea Benelli with a total score of 149. Falco had been forced to use a new weapon at the Olympics, his previous one having been stolen when his BMW was carjacked a few months before the Games. Apart from his Olympic title, Falco has earned ten medals at World Championships, including three team titles (1994, 1999 and 2006), as well as four individual silvers (1997, 2001, 2005 and 2010). He has claimed no less than ten European titles, five individually (2001-2004, 2006) and five with the Italian squad (1994-1995, 2000-2001, 2005). He has also won 25 World Cup events in his career. Prior to the Sydney Olympics, the Sultan of Brunei promised Falco a large sum of money if he were to compete for the tiny nation, but he turned the offer down.