PARIS, France — Francisca Crovetto won a dramatic shootout over Great Britain’s Amber Jo Rutter to win the women’s skeet shooting final at the Paris Olympics, capturing Chile’s first gold medal in 20 years.
Crovetto and Rutter were deadlocked at 55 points each after regulation. They headed to a shootout with Crovetto prevailing 7-6 after Rutter narrowly missed a target. Team USA’s Austen Smith won bronze with a score of 45.
“I still don’t believe it,” Crovetto said to the Associated Press. “It is a dream come true. I am living my childhood dream.”
Crovetto is a four-time Olympian. She competed in the women’s skeet event for Chile in 2012, 2016, and 2021 with a best finish of 8th at the London Games. She owns the world record in the women’s skeet qualification category, which was set at the 2022 ISSF World Cup with a score of 125.
Crovetto’s triumph is the first gold medal for Chile since the 2004 Athens Olympics in tennis. Chile’s last medal of any kind came with a bronze in a 2008 Beijing Olympics in tennis.
It’s just the second medal for a Chilean woman at the Olympics. The last one was won by Marlene Ahrens in a women’s javelin throw event at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
