Olympics: Rookie Eller fires his way to Double Trap gold

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

BEIJING - Walton Eller of the United States shot past a group of heavyweights to claim the Olympic Double Trap shooting gold medal with a new Games record on Tuesday.

Eller, the youngest of the six finalists at 26, finished with 190 points to surpass by one the previous record of 189 held jointly by Ahmed Al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates and Russell Mark of Australia.

World champion Francesco D'Aniello of Italy took the silver, while Hu Binyuan of China claimed the bronze medal at the Olympic ranges on the outskirts of the Chinese capital.

Eller surprised a strong field that included two Olympic champions in Aussie veteran Mark and Richard Faulds of Britain, besides D'Aniello, who won the 2007 world championships in Nicosia.

Mark, 44, who returned to competitive shooting at these Games after turning coach a few years ago, finished fifth. Faulds came in last.

In the close race for a place in the final, Athens champion Al-Maktoum lost out in a four-way shoot-off and silver medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore of India finished 15th.

Eller, a student of business management in Houston, Texas, found his qualification top score of 145 come in handy as both D'Aniello and Binyuan beat him by one in the final.

"It feels awesome," said Eller, who was considered a dark horse for the gold after finishing 17th at both the Athens Olympics and the world championships.

"I was actually glad to have made the final for the first time after missing out at Sydney and Athens, so to win the gold is amazing.

"The big guns were out there. You try not to look, but I knew they were not missing many."

American coach Dan Carlisle said Eller had a long career ahead.

"He will come back two more times at least," said Carlisle. "He is still so young. He is still a baby.

"Walton has got a great technique and a good coach. That's what it takes to make it. That's what it takes to be a medallist."

Binyuan, who improved upon his fourth place finish at Athens, warned China could dominate clay target shooting in future.

"The clay events started much earlier in Europe but we are getting there," said the 30-year-old. "I hope the gold will be mine at the next Olympics."

With eight of the 15 shooting golds decided so far, China and the Czech Republic lead with two each while India, Finland, South Korea and the United States share the remaining four.

Top 6 finalists:
1. Walton Eller (USA) 190 (145+45)
2. Francesco D. Aniello (ITA) 187 (141+46)
3. Hu Binyuan (CHN) 184 (138+46)
4. Jeffrey Holguin (USA) 182 (140+42)
5. Russell Mark (AUS) 181 (136+45)
6. Richard Faulds (BRI) 180 (137+43)

7. Ahmed Almaktoum (UAE) 136
8. William Chetcuti (MAL) 136
9. Roland Gerebics (HUN) 136
10. Daniele Di Spigno (ITA) 135
11. Hakan Dahlby (SWE) 135
12. Wang Nan (CHN) 134
13. Steven Scott (BRI) 134
14. Vasily Mosin (RUS) 131
15. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (IND) 131
16. Vitaly Fokeev (RUS) 130
17. Lucas Rafael Bennazar Ortiz (PUE) 123
18. Graeme Ede (NZL) 113
19. Giuseppe Di Salvatore (CAN) 109