Britain’s Nathan Hales clinched the men’s trap gold at the Paris Games with a new Olympic record, while the Serbian pair of Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec rallied to win the 10-metre air pistol mixed team event. Hales hit 48 shots out of 50 in his Olympic debut and fell agonisingly short of his own world record of 49 on a hot afternoon at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre. The 28-year-old missed just one shot in each of the two stages to put daylight between himself and Qi Ying (44) of China, who settled for silver.
“That’s quite something,” Hales said of his new status as an Olympic champion. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. It’s been an amazing experience, just absolutely unreal. I’m very emotional.” Jean Pierre Brol (35) claimed Guatemala’s first shooting medal at the Olympics.
Earlier, in the mixed team pistol event, Arunovic and Mikec drew level when Turkiye’s Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec looked on the brink of victory at 14-12 in the race to the magic number of 16. Dikec needed a 10 to secure Turkiye’s gold but he managed 9.1 as their euphoric Serbian opponents hugged each other, tumbled and rolled on the floor in jubilation.
“It was a real rollercoaster,” Arunovic said after their thrilling 16-14 win that secured Serbia’s first medal in Paris. “We went down 8-2, but... we knew we could rely on each other to give our best, and we put our faith in each other. It was really stressful but I hope we put on a good show for people who have come here. Not many people usually come to watch shooting but I hope the audience enjoyed a good display.”
Mikec, who won the men’s individual silver in Tokyo Olympics, also savoured the occasion. “This is what I dreamed of. Everyone in Serbia said to me, ‘You had silver in Tokyo, then you will win gold in Paris’,” he said. Tarhan and Dikec won Turkiye’s first Olympic medal in shooting and promised to do even better in 2028. “An Olympic medal is an Olympic medal,” Dikec told a press conference. “In Los Angeles, we’ll snatch the gold from them,” he said tapping on the shoulder of his Serbian rival Arunovic, who only giggled.
Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh claimed the bronze for India, beating the South Korean pair Oh Ye-jin and Lee Won-ho 16-10. Bhaker, who won bronze in the women’s individual event, becomes India’s first multi-medallist at an Olympic Games since the country’s independence in 1947.