China's Qi Ying takes historic silver in men's trap

CHATEAUROUX, France - Qi Ying won China's first Olympic medal in men's trap after finishing second in the final behind Nathan Hales of Britain here on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old made 44 hits in the final, but not enough to beat world record holder Hales, who took the gold medal with an Olympic record of 48 hits.

"It's absolutely amazing. I enjoyed every second of it. It's a great competition," said the 28-year-old Briton, who competed amid loud cheers from the crowd that included his parents, partner Charlotte Kerwood, also a shotgun shooter, and their two children.

Qi survived seven round of shoot-off against Hales under the scorching sun to top the qualification where four athletes made 123 hits.

Coming into the final, Qi was trailing by one hit 23 to 24 behind Hales after 25 targets in the first stage, and his two misses in the second series of the elimination stage enabled his British counterpart to have a two-hit cushion with 15 shots left, and his hope of catching up was dashed as Hales made three perfect series to seal his victory.

"Generally I think I was doing well. I made some mistakes in the final, and the result was a little bit lower than my expectation," said Qi, who was making his Olympic debut. "My goal was to finish in top three at the Paris Olympics, and I hope to change the color to gold in the future."

Winner Hales, who had beaten Qi to second at the World Cup in Lonato del Garda in 2023, spoke highly of his Chinese rival.

"He is a great competitor. We had a close battle in Italy last year as well. It's great to battle again," he commented.

Jean Pierre Brol of Guatemala bagged the bronze, representing the first medal for the Central American country at Paris 2024 and only the second Olympic medal in Guatemala's history.

"I'm so excited. If I talk too much, I'll begin to cry. It was very hard and very hot. This is a great thing for my country," said Brol.