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GOLD MEDAL: Catherine Skinner wins women's trap shooting
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
8th August, 2016
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Australia's Catherine Skinner holds up her gold medal as she stands on the dais with silver medalist Natalie Rooney of New Zealand and bronze medalist Corey Cogdell after the Women's Trap final at the Olympic Shooting Centre on day two, of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. Skinner qualified for the semi final in 6th place after a qualifying shoot out. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
8th August, 2016
2

Catherine Skinner claimed Australia’s third gold medal of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games by winning the women’s trap final.

The Victorian barely qualified for the semi-finals and managed to shake off a slow start in the gold medal match to defeat New Zealand’s Natalie Rooney 12-11.

The 26-year-old became Australia’s first shooting gold medalist since Suzanne Balogh in Athens and outperformed the likes of fellow Aussie and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Laetisha Scanlan, who finished fifth.

Skinner, who grew up in Melbourne after moving from country Victoria was in a gun club from primary school and didn’t look back.

Skinner showed her years of experience and held her nerve in the pressure moments, nailing two must make shots against Cynthia Meyer to make the semi-final.

In the final she missed her first and fourth shots but didn’t drop her head and waited for kiwi Rooney to make her own mistakes.

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When she did, Skinner nailed three clay targets in a row to win by one.

“In a way I got so frustrated I just wanted to see those little targets smash so it kind of worked out,” Skinner told News Limited.

“It’s been a long process and I have been there before where I have fallen to pieces so it’s a learning curve and thankfully it’s paid off and I have got the medal.”

Skinner was referring to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games when she missed five shots in a row after being in a commanding position.

“I definitely learnt from that experience I was trying to block out the noise and ignore the whole crowd, as nasty as that was. You are here to compete and here to perform and this comes back at the end of it with this result.”

For once it was a positive story for Australian shooting after all the negative press in the lead-up with the Michael Diamond fallout after he was dumped by Shooting Australia.

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