Army Sgt. Vincent Hancock. USA Shooting, Men’s Skeet.
A native of Eatonton, Ga., Hancock has been shooting since he was a young child and started competing when he was 11 years old. The 2012 Summer Olympics in London will mark his second trip to the games after winning the gold medal in skeet in 2008 in Beijing. He is a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit on Fort Benning, Ga. Hancock has plans to separate from the Army in November 2012 and open a shooting academy in his hometown with his father, Craig.
American Forces Press Service:
In double record-setting fashion, U.S. Army Sgt. Vincent Hancock became the first shotgun shooter to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in men’s skeet on Tuesday at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Hancock, 23, a Soldier in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit from Eatonton, Ga., eclipsed his own records set at the 2008 Beijing Games for both qualification (123) and total (148) scores.
He struck gold in China with a qualification score of 121 and total of 145. Hancock prevailed by two shots over silver medalist Anders Golding (146) of Denmark and by four shots over Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiya (144), who secured the bronze medal by winning a shoot-off against Russia’s Valeriy Shomin.
Photo US DoD
UPDATE:
It takes Reuters to shed more light on the achievements of one of our military Olympians at the London Olympics:
U.S. army sergeant Vincent Hancock produced a perfect finale to hold off the challenge of Denmark’s Anders Golding and rally car driver Nasser Al Attiya of Qatar to win the Olympic men’s skeet shooting gold on Tuesday.
Hancock, 23, shot all 25 clays in the six-man final for an Olympic record 148 out of 150 at an overcast Royal Artillery Barracks in south east London to retain the title he won in Beijing four years ago.
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“There is just no feeling like it,” a beaming Hancock told reporters.
“Thank God for giving me the opportunity and putting me back on the podium again.”
Hancock led from start to finish, shooting 74 of 75 targets in three sessions of qualifiers on Monday and 49 out of 50 in Tuesday’s heats before picking up America’s second skeet gold of the London Games following Kim Rhodes’s success in the women’s.
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Hancock, who will step down from military service in November, kept his gun thrown over his shoulder as he watched his competitors miss targets before sealing victory with a clay to spare from the eighth mark.
Read more about a soldier Reuters refers to as a “Consummate Professional” here.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.