USA's Corey Cogdell came back after a one-year break, and she did it in a classy way: the 28-year athlete ruled the Trap Women final at the first ISSF World Cup match of the year in Acapulco, pocketing the brightest medal and an Olympic Quota on day 1.
The 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist hit 13 targets in the Gold medal match, outdoing Australia's Laetisha Scanlan who finished in second place with 9 hits. Cogdell won the match already at the 12th target, as Scanlan dropped 5 targets in the first part of the round.
“I am extremely excited about this Gold medal. Most importantly, I won an Olympic Quota spot for our country, which is what we came here to do. We came together as a team to accomplish that, and I am proud that we made it.” Cogdell said right after the final.
The US shooter qualified for this afternoon's Finals with 71 hits, after winning a five-way qualification shot-off. Then, during the semi-final, she climbed up the scoreboard with 12 hits, and won another shoot-off against her teammate Kayle Browning to access the Gold medal match. There, she met and beat Scanlan, shooting consistently and showing great self confidence.
“The more I continue to shoot, the more I learn, and progress. I feel I am coming into the best years of my career so I am very excited for the rest of the Wolrd Cup season.” Cogdell said.
She had already won a World Cup Silver medal here in Acapulco back in 2010, but many things have changed since then.
“I did not compete in any of the World Cups last year, as I got married and took the summer off. This is my first World Cup in a year. A married life is amazing, I feel a great sense of security, and that positively reflects on my shooting: I know I have the support of my husband and of my family.”
Starting off with a Gold medal was the best way to break into the 2015 season, Cogdell added: “We have Olympic team qualifying points on each of the world cup, so this is a great start for me.”
“I am going to be competing in the two next ISSF World Cups in the United Arab Emirates and then in Cyprus, then we will have another selection match back in the US to select the team going to the World Championship and to the last World Cup stage of the season. I am looking forward to it!” The American shooter concluded, smiling after the medal ceremony.
Today's Silver medallist, Australia's 24-year old Laetisha Scanlan, ended up on the podium with 9 hits in the Gold medal match, after scoring 14 targets in the semi-final, and leading the qualifications with 73 hits. By winning the Silver medal, she also secured the second Olympic Quota place of Australia in this event (her teammate Catherine Skinner had already won a Quota at the 2014 ISSF World Championship in Granada),
“It feels great to win an Olympic Quota! Hopefully I will go to Rio, and maybe I will win a medal there too.” Laetisha said.
“We did not really stop training over the Christmas: it's summer in Australia, and we kept on shooting. That definitely helped me to finish on the podium today, it made me more confident in going into this event.”
Today's Bronze medal went to New Zeland's Natalie Rooney, 26, who pocketed her first ISSF World Cup medal ever here in Acapulco, today.
The young athlete hit 71 targets to qualify for the semi-final, where she hit 10 clays and won a shoot-off to enter the Bronze medal match. There, she shuttered 13 targets outdoing second US finalist Kaily Browning, who finished in fourth with 11 hits in the medal match.
Following the medals contenders, San Marino's 2012 Olympic finalist Alessandra Perilli, 26, and China’s first time participant Deng Weiyun, 18, placed in fifth and sixth place with 10 hits each in the semi-final.
The ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico, is will continue tomorrow, with the Skeet Men Final scheduled to take place at 4.00 PM.
Watch all finals live on http://www.issf-sports.org/pages/livestream.ashx