Skeet, Women

American Kim Rhode came into London having won shooting medals at the last four Olympics, including a silver in this event in 2008. But she left little doubt in this event, winning by an overwhelming margin with 99 targets hit to only 91 for second-placed Wei Ning of China. Rhode hit 74 of 75 targets in qualifying and then had a perfect 25 in the final round to win her third gold medal and fifth shooting medal in all. Her other golds came in double trap in 1996 and 2004. The bronze medal came down to a shoot-off between Slovakian Danka Barteková and Russian Marina Belikova with Barteková winning bronze on her fourth target.

Rhode set several Olympic records and bests with this gold medal. Her percentage of victory margin was the most dominant Olympic victory in an individual shooting event – with Rhode’s score being 108.8% of Wei’s. The next most dominant victory occurred in 2004 men’s double trap when Ahmed Al-Maktoum (UAE) defeated Rajyavardhan Rathore (IND), 189-179, a percentage victory margin of 105.6%.

Her five medals equals the most ever in Olympic shooting by a woman, set by Marina Dobrancheva-Logvinenko (RUS), Mariya Grozdeva (BUL), and Jasna Šekarić (YUG/SCG/SRB). Overall she is tied for second among Olympic shooting in terms of medals won, also tied with Germany’s Ralf Schumann, all trailing China’s Wang Yifu who has six. Rhode became the first woman to win three gold medals in Olympic shooting.

Rhode became the fifth person in any Olympic sport to win an individual medal at five consecutive Olympic Games or Winter Games, although she was only the second athlete to do so at the Summer Games, joining Japan’s judoka Ryoko Tamura-Tani, and Winter Olympians Armin Zöggeler (ITA-LUG), Georg Hackl (GER-LUG), and Claudia Pechstein (GER-SSK). Nobody has done this at six straight Olympics.

Finally, with this victory Rhode won gold medals over a gap of 16 years (1996-2012), a new Olympic best for women, and second all-time in all Olympic sports only to Belgium’s Hubert Van Innis, who won archery individual gold medals in 1900 and 1920. She is now tied with six other women, in all Olympic sports, who have won Olympic medals 16 years apart. These were Liselott Linsenhoff (GER-EQU, 1956/1972), Isabell Werth (GER-EQU, 1992/2008), Ellen Müller-Preis (AUT-FEN 1932/1948), Ilona Elek-Schacherer (HUN-FEN 1936/1952), Ryoko Tamura-Tani (JPN-JUD 1992/2008), and Jasna Šekarić (YUG-SHO 1988/2004).