Published on 10 Aug 2008
Trap Men Final: KOSTELECKY shot Gold with a perfect final of 25 hits
Marco Dalla Dea
The Czech shooter David KOSTELECKY made no mistakes today, entering the final round on the lead and firing a perfect final of 25 hits that led him upon the highest step of the podium. The new Olympic Champion KOSTELECKY defeated the title defender, Alexey ALIPOV of the Russian Federation, who placed in third after shooting-off the two times Olympic Gold DIAMOND of Australia. PELLIELO of ITALY won his third consecutive Olympic medal, gaining Silver as he had done in Athens four years ago.
The rain expected at yesterday’s Opening Ceremony made its appearance during today’s Trap Men Final, at the Olympic Shooting Venue of Beijing. The difficult conditions and the poor visibility did not prevent the Czech shooter David KOSTELECKY from scoring an outstanding final round of 25 hits, a perfect match that lifted him on the highest step of the podium to win the Olympic Gold medal. The 33-year old athlete, Olympians at the Games of Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, could not hide his joy “This is a life-long dream. I am the Olympic Champion. I made it!” he exclaimed under the rain, speaking with the ISSF NEWS magazine “Finally all the hard work I made has been rewarded!”
Starting on the lead, tied to the title defender Alexey ALIPOV of the Russian Federation, KOSTELECKY could not be stopped by anything or anyone. While his opponents started missing as the rain started falling, he kept on shooting with extreme precision, never missing the focus. At the end of the round, he turned out to be the only finalist with a full score of 25 hits, which added to his qualifications brought his total score up to 146 clays, a new Olympic Final Record.
The Czech athlete amused the spectators of the CTF Shooting Range: the Chinese audience started cheering for him after the 15th targets, electing him as the favourite “I did not know my position during the competition. I did not know who was first or second. I had no time to think about this, and I understood I was the winner only at the end.”
If the victory of KOSTELECKY could be considered a surprise, the Silver medal won by Giovanni PELLIELO of Italy is the confirmation of a champion. The Italian shooter, Silver medallist of Athens 2004 and Bronze of Sydney 2000, closed the today’s round in second place with a total score of 143 hits (120+23). “This is my most suffered medal – said PELLIELO - and it has also been the most difficult to win, for me. I come from a bad period: I made no podiums during the last season. And today conditions were terrible, with this rain. But God gave me the force, and my third Olympic medal came.”
The Russian ALIPOV (32) missed more then once in the first part of the competition, loosing the lead he had gained throughout the qualification falling down in the scores. As raindrops started falling, he found the right concentration and came back on focus “I started my remount with the rain. I found the grip; I came back on focus; I started firing good shot. At the same time my opponents missed, so I could come back in the medal positions”
ALIPOV’s remount finished in a tie: the title defender found himself tied to the two times Olympic Gold medallist Michael DIAMOND of Australia, and had to pass through a shoot-off. “I was prepared to face a long shoot-off, but it actually lasted only few minutes” commented ALIPOV, who won the face-to-face duel 3 to 2 hits, earning the Bronze medal “A medal is a medal - he added – I could have done better, but I am on the podium… I came here for this. I was thirsty of medals!”
The Australian DIAMOND, current World Record holder and favourite for the Gold, finished in fourth place “I am a little bit nervous and a little bit disappointed - he commented about his performance - but fourth is always better then fifth, at the end of the day”.
Starting on the lead, tied to the title defender Alexey ALIPOV of the Russian Federation, KOSTELECKY could not be stopped by anything or anyone. While his opponents started missing as the rain started falling, he kept on shooting with extreme precision, never missing the focus. At the end of the round, he turned out to be the only finalist with a full score of 25 hits, which added to his qualifications brought his total score up to 146 clays, a new Olympic Final Record.
The Czech athlete amused the spectators of the CTF Shooting Range: the Chinese audience started cheering for him after the 15th targets, electing him as the favourite “I did not know my position during the competition. I did not know who was first or second. I had no time to think about this, and I understood I was the winner only at the end.”
If the victory of KOSTELECKY could be considered a surprise, the Silver medal won by Giovanni PELLIELO of Italy is the confirmation of a champion. The Italian shooter, Silver medallist of Athens 2004 and Bronze of Sydney 2000, closed the today’s round in second place with a total score of 143 hits (120+23). “This is my most suffered medal – said PELLIELO - and it has also been the most difficult to win, for me. I come from a bad period: I made no podiums during the last season. And today conditions were terrible, with this rain. But God gave me the force, and my third Olympic medal came.”
The Russian ALIPOV (32) missed more then once in the first part of the competition, loosing the lead he had gained throughout the qualification falling down in the scores. As raindrops started falling, he found the right concentration and came back on focus “I started my remount with the rain. I found the grip; I came back on focus; I started firing good shot. At the same time my opponents missed, so I could come back in the medal positions”
ALIPOV’s remount finished in a tie: the title defender found himself tied to the two times Olympic Gold medallist Michael DIAMOND of Australia, and had to pass through a shoot-off. “I was prepared to face a long shoot-off, but it actually lasted only few minutes” commented ALIPOV, who won the face-to-face duel 3 to 2 hits, earning the Bronze medal “A medal is a medal - he added – I could have done better, but I am on the podium… I came here for this. I was thirsty of medals!”
The Australian DIAMOND, current World Record holder and favourite for the Gold, finished in fourth place “I am a little bit nervous and a little bit disappointed - he commented about his performance - but fourth is always better then fifth, at the end of the day”.