COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (October 12, 2019)
Vincent Hancock, Aeriel Skinner and Amber English display their hardware at the World Cup Final
Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, Calif.) won the gold medal in women’s trap on Saturday as Team USA notched three podium finishes at the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup Shotgun Final in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
Joining Skinner on the podium wearing the Stars and Stripes were Vincent Hancock (Fort Worth, Texas) and Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Hancock claimed the silver medal in men’s skeet while English earned the bronze medal in women’s skeet.
Skinner and teammate Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.) both qualified for the women’s trap finals. Carroll completed qualifications with a 120/125, tying her for fourth, while Skinner was sixth heading into the finals with a 119/120. In the final, Skinner bested Australia’s Laetisha Scanlan for the gold, while Italy’s Alessia Iezzi took the bronze. Carroll finished fifth.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be representing Team USA on the podium today at the World Cup final,” said Skinner. “This match overall has been a great experience for me. I am grateful to have been fighting for a chance to make it in final as well as earn a medal, shooting with some of the world’s best shooters. It makes it extra special when you get to compete alongside your teammate Ashley who has a great match. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the year than with bringing home a gold medal. I am already looking forward to starting training for next year’s events.”
In the men’s skeet qualification, Hancock was one of five athletes finishing with 124/125. After a shoot-off for bib order, Hancock emerged with bib #1 after going 56 targets to claim it. Four additional shooters shot 123/125 in qualification and needed to shoot-off for the final bib in the finals. In the men’s skeet finals, Italy’s Luigi Lodde shot a perfect 60/60 to win the gold medal, while Hancock shot 59/60 to take the silver. Azmy Mehelba of Egypt won the bronze medal, and Christian Elliott (Greenwood, Ind.) ended with a 118/125 in qualification for a 16th-place finish.
The women’s skeet qualification saw Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, La.) post the high score with a 123/125. English also walked into the finals with bib 5 after finishing 120/125. Samantha Simonton (Gainesville, Ga.) lost a shoot-off for the last spot in the finals to Cyprus’ Andri Eleftheriou, while Kim Rhode (Monrovia, Calif.) finished one target out of the finals with a 118/125.
Ashley Carroll and Aeriel Skinner both walk into Women's Trap Finals at World
Cup Final in Al Ain, UAE. Ashley completed qualifications with a 120/125 tied
for 4th she'll shoot off for bib number. Aeriel ended with a 119/120 going into
Finals with bib 6. Go USA! Women's trap finals are scheduled to be broadcast
live at 12:30pm UAE time.
China’s Meng Wei took the gold medal in the women’s skeet final over Great Britain’s Amber Hill, with English claiming the final step on the podium and Connor placing sixth.
In men’s trap, the gold medal went to Italy’s Mauro DeFilippis, the silver to Russia’s Alexey Alipov and the bronze medal to Spain’s Alberto Fernandez.
“I am honored to coach such a wonderful group of people who happen to be amazing shooters as well,” said U.S. Coach Jay Waldron. “We’ve been on a very successful journey winning an impressive medal count and earning all our quotas. This World Cup Final is truly the icing on our year. Al Ain has been a fabulous host. Tokyo, here we come!”
“We appreciate all the family, friends and fans supporting behind the podium,” added Senior Manager of High Performance Sharee Waldron. “It really takes a huge village to allow our team to pursue their Olympic dreams. It’s an expensive endeavor and we are so grateful to our USOPC Team, partners, sponsors and generous donors who make this possible. Thank you to the team behind our team. You share in these victories.”
Full results can be found HERE.