The Tokyo 2020 skeet shooting final came down to the wire, and ended with a new Olympic record.
Making her Olympics debut, Amber English finished atop the podium in the women's skeet final. Her score, 56 of 60 targets, set a new Olympics record. The U.S. Army 1st Lt. took home the gold medal by beating the 2016 Olympic champion Diana Bacosi of Italy by just one point. China's Wei Meng took bronze after tying a world record in the qualifying round.
English missed just two of her final 30 targets to seal the victory. She missed out on the last two Olympic Games, but worked hard at training while earning her officer position in Fort Benning, Georgia.
"I'm very, very glad," English said. "This has been a long time coming."
Here's a recap of the event, which finished on July 26.
English is a participant of the U.S. Army's World Class Athlete Program, which helps "Soldier-athletes to perform at the international level while also serving their nation in the military," as explained by the organization's website.
She's not the only American skeet shooter who came out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a victory. About an hour after the women's final, Vincent Hancock made history of his own, becoming the first skeet shooting champion to secure three gold medals.
English and Hancock have been friends since they were 16, making the shared victories that much more special.
"I love that girl like a sister and now we both have medals around our neck," Hancock said.
After securing their victories and attending the medal ceremonies, English and Hancock joined Kim Rhode, a fellow shooter and the first U.S. individual Olympic athlete to medal in five consecutive Games, for a photo. It capped off a brilliant start to the games for the American Olympic shooting squad.
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