COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (March 11, 2018)
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock marked his return to international competition after a year hiatus by closing the first International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup of the season in the best way possible – equaling the Finals World Record of 59/60 hits then winning the gold medal in a shootoff.
Hancock (Eatonton, Georgia) finished the 60 shots of the Final tied for the World Record with Paul Adams of Australia, sending the decision for gold or silver to a shootoff. Hancock won the shootoff, 6-5. Adams would claim the silver medal and Tammaro Cassandro of Italy would take the bronze. Today’s win marks Hancock’s eighth World Cup gold medal, 12th medal overall.
Hancock finished Qualification in first place with 123/125 hits. Fellow American Frank Thompson (Alliance, Nebraska) had to fight to earn the last Finals spot as seven athletes were tied at the end of Qualification with 119 hits. Thompson withstood a 10-target shootoff to claim the last Finals position, however, he would be eliminated in fifth place. Eli Christman (Hixson, Tennessee) finished in 24th place with a score of 113.
The USA Shooting Team would close out this ISSF World Cup season opener second in the medal count to India with six medals, all won by the U.S. in the Shotgun events (three gold, one silver and two bronze). Read more about these medal-winning performances at www.usashooting.org.
More than 400 athletes from 50 countries competed at this ISSF World Cup in 15 medal events. Complete results from the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara are available here: http://www.issf-sports.org/competitions ... hipid=2390.
*Photo courtesy of ISSF