Kostelecky wins gold in trap shooting

Beijing: David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic won gold in the men's trap shooting yesterday with a brilliant final round in splendid duck-hunting weather to surge past a nervous Alexey Alipov, of Russia.

Kostelecky, who had never won a major championship, dropped to the ground and lay on his back soaking in the falling rain for a moment after hitting a perfect 25 for 25 targets in the final for a total score of 146.

"I don't really know why I did that," said Kostelecky. "I thought the rain gave me a lot so I was just very happy to lie down on the ground.

"It's easy to say now that I stayed calm. I was lucky that I hit all the targets. It was my day. I worked hard the last four years for this moment."

Italy's Giovanni Pellielo won the silver and Alipov got the bronze after winning a shoot-off with Australia's two-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Diamond — an intriguing showdown between the winners of the last three gold medals.

Alipov, who had won the gold in Athens, was in first place alongside Kostelecky after the two rounds of qualification on Saturday and earlier yesterday.

But the Russian crumbled under the pressure, missing two of his first four targets and three of the first 11. He had hit 121 of his first 125 shots in qualification.

"No, I was not bothered by the problems at home," said Alipov when asked if the conflict between Russia and Georgia affected him. "It was the finals that made me a bit nervous.

"I tried to concentrate as much as I could in the beginning but I couldn't cope. The finals are never easy. The level of shooters was so high that anyone could have won gold."

Bronze consolation

Alipov managed to salvage the bronze medal by winning the shoot-off against Diamond. The Russian hit his first three targets and Diamond, shooting second, missed his third.
"I felt a little bit nervous and a little bit disappointed," said Diamond. "But fourth is always better than fifth."

Heavy rain towards the end of the trap shooting washed out the awards ceremony and it was moved to the indoor shooting venue.