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Czech Kostelecky wins men's trap gold
Agencies
Updated: 2008-08-10 17:06
Beijing - David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic won the Olympic gold medal in the men's trap shooting on Sunday after Russia's Alexey Alipov stumbled badly in the finals held in the rain.
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Gold medalist David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic in action during the finals of the men's trap shooting competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 10, 2008. [Agencies]
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Italy's Giovanni Pellielo won the silver and Alipov got the bronze after winning a shoot-off with Australia's two-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Diamond.
Alipov, who won the gold in Athens, was in first place alongside Kostelecky after the two rounds of qualification on Saturday and earlier on Sunday.
But the Russian crumbled under the pressure, missing two of his first four targets and three of the first 11. He had hit 121 of his first 125 shots in qualification.
He then calmed down but still had a total of four missed targets in the 25-shot final while Kostelecky shot a perfect 25 for 25 for a two-day total of 146.
Alipov managed to salvage the bronze medal by winning the shoot-off against Diamond. The Russian hit his first three targets and Diamond, shooting second, missed his third.
It was the second time on Sunday that a Russian shooter led after qualification before stumbling in the final.
Earlier on Sunday, Russia's Natalia Paderina gave up a lead that she took into the finals of the women's 10m air pistol and lost the gold medal to Guo Wenjun of China. Paderina got silver ahead of Georgia's Nino Salukvadze.
It was the second gold medal in shooting for the Czech Republic after Katerina Emmons won the opening event of the Olympics on Saturday in the women's 10m air rifle.
Heavy rain towards the end of the trap shooting washed out the awards ceremony. The ceremony was moved to the indoor shooting venue.