There are many ways to collect the first World Cup Gold medal of your career, and doing it in front of your parents is surely among the most emotional ones.
That’s what United States’ Ashley Carroll did today in Acapulco (MEX), where she wrestled through a crowded shoot-off to enter the women’s Trap final match, earning the one and only spot left and prevailing over multi-decorated shooter Laetisha Scanlan of Australia.
In the following final, Carroll didn’t miss any of her first 19 targets, eventually going through a slump midway through the match, where she missed allowed New Zealand’s Natalie Rooney to overtake her. Despite that, she managed to match her rival’s pace, eventually catching the New Zealand’s 28-year-old during the ten final targets.
As both Carroll and Rooney concluded with 42 hits, it took an additional shoot-off round to determine the Gold medal winner. There, Rooney shot first and missed, allowing her 22-year-old opponent to claim the first World Cup Gold of her career and celebrate together with her mom and dad, both cheering for Ashely from the stands.
“It actually feels great to win my first World Cup Gold medal in front of them, we live in California, so it’s quite easy to come here in Mexico. It’s been great to feel their support and my teammates’ support all along the qualifications round and through the final match,” Carroll said at the end of the award ceremony.
By finishing with the same score at the end of the regular 50 targets, Carroll and Rooney also bested the scored nailed by Australia’s Penny Smith in New Delhi (IND) last month, and they now co-own the World Record in the women’s Trap event.
Alessandra Perilli (28) of San Marino completed the podium by finishing 3rd with 30 target hits, collecting the sixth World Cup medal of her career.
After missing 5 of her first 10 targets, Spain’s Fatima Galvez (30) avoided elimination after target 25 and target 30, eventually landing in 4th place with 26 target hits. The seven-time World Cup medalist left the final match because of a lower qualification ranking compared to Perilli’s.
Galvez was followed by Australia’s 24-year-old Emma Elizabeth Cox, who concluded in 4th position with 23 hits, and Italy’s 41-year-old Deborah Gelisio, a former ISSF World Champion in Lonato (ITA) in 2005 who finished in 6th place with 17 hits out of 25 targets.
News and updates about the competition will be available on issf-sports.org and on the many social media platforms of the Federation: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.
The five finals will be all streamed live on the ISSF website, on its Livestream channel and on its official Facebook page.
The ISSF World Cup Stage 2 in Acapulco will continue tomorrow with the Trap Men final match, scheduled at 3:00 pm (UTC-6:00).