Briton edges Australian in dramatic shootoff

Sydney: Richard Faulds kept cool in a dramatic shootoff with defending champion Russell Mark of Australia on Wednesday to capture the Olympic men's double trap title and give Britain only its second gold of the Games so far.

Faulds and Mark both finished with 187 points but the 23-year-old held his nerve to win the sudden-death shootoff and take Britain's first shooting gold medal for 12 years.

Mark added a silver medal to the gold he won in Atlanta four years ago while Fehaid Al Dehhani of Kuwait took the bronze medal with 186 points -- his nation's first-ever Olympic medal.

"It is a dream come true -- somebody smack me," Faulds said. "Russell is the greatest without doubt and to beat him is awesome."

Local favourite Mark led going into the final five rounds but then suffered two missed pairs and allowed Faulds to force the shootoff. Both men hit one of their two targets in the first round of the decider, but Mark missed again in the second rotation as Faulds made no mistake.

"You wouldn't want it to be any more dramatic than that," said Faulds, who grew up on a farm in Andover, Hampshire, but is now a shooting instructor in West London.

"You never give up but I knew late in the competition that I couldn't afford another miss."

"I was shaking this morning, but when you are shooting you just have to forget all about everything else."

Faulds had vowed to win a medal this time around after being fifth four years ago.

"I didn't finish well in Atlanta and I was determined to do better here," he said. "It is an unbelievable feeling, a dream come true."

Nightmare finish

Mark, who had bettered the Olympic record in qualifying, said his finish was "a nightmare" but made no excuses.

"There is no luck involved," he said. "I had the chance to win it and I didn't take it. He is a great shot, a great person and he deserves to be number one."British coach James Mair said Faulds's win would hopefully lift the profile of shooting in Britain.

There were several surprises in the event with Michael Diamond of Australia, the double Olympic champion in the single trap, and world champion Daniele di Spigno of Italy both failing to qualify for the final.

In the women's 50 metre rifle three position event, Renata Mauer-Rozanska, a Polish economist, got her calculations spot on for the second straight Olympics and won the gold medal.

Mauer-Rozanska finished with 684.6 points to edge out silver medallist Tatiana Goldobina of Russia, who scored 680.9. Another Russian, former world junior champion Maria Feklistova, was third with 679.9.

It was the second Olympic gold medal for 31-year-old Mauer- Rozanska, who won the women's 10 metre air rifle event at the Atlanta Games and was also third in the three position event four years ago.

"I wasn't that confident going into the final but my last practice session was very good," Mauer-Rozanska said. "It was a very hard competition and I was nervous all the way through."

Gold medal favourite Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany, the reigning world champion who shared the lead after the qualification series, faded in the final round to finish fourth.

It was bad day for German shooters with world champion and gold medal favourite Ralf Schumann back in 14th place after the first round of qualifying for the men's rapid fire event.

Schumann, the gold medallist in both the Barcelona and Atlanta Games and silver medallist in Seoul, will need a dramatic form reversal on Thursday to make the final.



(c) Reuters Limited.