Rhode hits the gold standard again (From Stourbridge News)

Rhode hits the gold standard again

2:45pm Sunday 29th July 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2013

Shooter Kimberly Rhode set American Olympic history as she won gold in the women's skeet.

The 33-year-old set a new Olympic record in qualifying, with 74 hits out of 75, and went on to equal her own world record with a perfect 25 in the final for a total of 99 in front of a packed shotgun range at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

It means Rhode is the first American to win an individual sport medal at five consecutive Olympic Games.

She is a two-time gold medallist in the double trap event, in 1996 and 2004, either side of bronze in 2000, and won silver in the skeet at Beijing four years ago.

Ning Wei added to China's growing medal haul by taking silver while Slovakia's Danka Bartekova won bronze after a shoot-off with Russia's Marina Belikova.

Rhode's performance was all the more remarkable given the downpour which fell during the qualification round.

But she offered no excuses for the single shot she missed, in the third round of qualifying, which denied her an unprecedented perfect 100.

"My dad said one day I'd have to shoot well in the rain and he was right," she said.

"I have no excuses, I just missed one. It happens. The conditions were difficult and it just got away.

"The world record did not really affect me until late on. Then the emotions were affecting me and I was thinking 'please don't cry, you won't be able to see the birds'. That would have been a challenge to get the record."