Team USA’s Austen Smith secured the bronze medal in the Women’s Skeet event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday, August 4.
She walked away from the Chateauroux Shooting Range with a score of 45 of 50 targets.
Smith reflected on her bronze medal finish at the Paris 2024 Games, her first ever Olympic medal, after finishing 10th in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“It has not sunk in yet at all,” Smith said. “I’m still waiting for it to sink [in]. I just wanted to get a medal no matter what at this Games. I was thinking about retiring after this, and this was kind of my last shot. I’ve got to go back to school, go start my career and get studying again. My only goal was to get a medal. I didn’t care what color it was.”
She relied more on her emotions in Tokyo and has evolved her mindset since then. The approach seems to have paid off.
“I focus on my mental training now,” Smith said. “I’ve already trained my subconscious, and now it’s time to train my conscious self and make sure I’m thinking the right things, every single time I step in the station.”
Smith entered the Women’s Skeet final with the number one bib after topping the qualification leaderboard earlier on Sunday.
Here is a full recap of the Women’s Skeet final at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Smith was perfect for her first four shots, which were a pair of doubles. She missed her sixth target, giving up first place to Amber Rutter of Great Britain. At station five facing two doubles, Smith nailed all four. She completed the initial series in the final with nine of 10 targets, ranking her in third place, behind Rutter and Vanesa Hockova of Slovakia, who were both tied for first place with 10 of 10 targets.
At station three she again faced a pair of doubles, with Smith shattering all four targets. All shooters at this station shot flawlessly except for Danka Bartekova of Slovakia, who missed her last target. The rankings remained the same.
Next, Smith hit both her targets, but Rutter missed her 16th shot overall, costing her the lead and allowing Smith to jump to second place behind Hockova.
The next station determined the first elimination and sixth place, although Smith wasn’t in any danger. She hit her first pair but missed her 20th shot, with many in the crowd thinking it was a hit. She closed out the second series of shots with a cumulative score of 18 of 20 targets in third place behind Rutter and Francisca Crovetto of Chile, both with 19 of 20. Bartekova was eliminated with 17 of 20.
In the next cycle of 10 targets, Smith missed her 24th shot, but was flawless for the remaining targets with 27 of 30, ranking her third behind Rutter in second and Crovetto at the top.
Facing two doubles at station three, Smith was flawless with four solid hits for a 31 of 34 cumulative score, now in second place. Rutter missed her 34th shot, placing her third. Hockova retained the lead with 33 of targets.
Smith hit both of her next targets for 33 of 36, while Crovetto missed shot 36 but with a high enough score to stay in first place. Rutter dropped to third place.
At the next station, Smith missed her 40th shot, now with 36 of 40 targets. The rest of the field hit both pairs. Smith dropped to third place and Hockova was eliminated with 34 shots.
Smith was guaranteed a podium finish at this point. For her next station, Smith hit all four targets, now with a 40 of 44 score. Rutter missed her 44th target, while Crovetto hit all four to rocket to the lead with 52. Smith was in second and Rutter in third by virtue of bib number.
At the next station, Smith missed her 46th shot, now at 41 of 46 targets and in third place, one point behind Rutter.
Smith secured the bronze medal at the next station after hitting her next four targets, exiting the final with 45 of 50. Rutter and Crovetto were also both flawless, with 48 and 46, respectively.
Crovetto then missed two targets to drop to second, with both her and Rutter at 50 of 54 targets.
After 60 shots and now both tied at 55, Rutter and Crovetto entered a shoot-off. Rutter missed her sixth shot and Crovetto her fifth, still tied with 55+5.
Rutter then interacted with the referee about her seventh shot, which appeared to be a hit but was called a miss. Regardless, Rutter finished with 55+6 for the silver medal, while Crovetto won the first Olympic gold medal for Chile in a shooting event since the Seoul 1988 Games with 55+7.
Smith is coached by four-time Men’s Skeet gold medalist Vincent Hancock.
“I get to shoot with probably the best men’s shooter in the entire world, Vincent Hancock, the guy who got me into this,” Smith said. “He’s like a father figure to me. Whenever I get to shoot with him, it’s like shooting back at home.”
Next for Smith at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be the Mixed Team Skeet event with teammate Vincent Hancock on Monday, August 5.
Keep checking back with Shooting Sports USA for the latest Paris 2024 Olympic Games news and updates.
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