Washington County standout, Eatonton native and Army officer win Olympic gold medals

Three Olympians with Georgia ties are bringing home gold medals from Tokyo.

Amber English and Vincent Hancock won gold in skeet shooting, a clean sweep in the event for the United States. The pair have known each since they were teenagers, according to the Associated Press.

Former Washington County standout Allisha Gray helped the U.S. bring home the first-ever 3-on-3 basketball gold medal in the Olympics Wednesday.

English missed out on the U.S. team in 2012 and 2016 but, at 31 years old, achieved her goal of making the team all while training to be an Army officer at Fort Benning in Columbus.

She made the most of it by hitting her final 10 shots to cap an impressive performance where she hit 56 of her 60 targets to take home the gold medal over Italy’s Diana Bacosi.

Hancock is no stranger to the podium after taking home gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. He is now the most decorated Olympian in skeet shooting as he is the first to ever win three golds in the event.

The Eatonton native and graduate of Gatewood High School hit 59 of 60 targets to win by four shots over Jesper Hansen of Denmark. This came after Hancock had to win a shoot-off against six others to make it into the finals.

Gray, along with Stefanie Dolson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young defeated the Russian squad 18-15 to add another gold medal to America’s impressive Tokyo tally.

Gray played college ball for the University of North Carolina for two years before transferring to Columbia to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks. During her time at South Carolina, she helped lead the team to a national championship in 2017.

Gray was selected fourth overall in the WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings in 2017 and took home the Rookie of the Year trophy. She can now add a gold medal to her collection.

This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 1:09 PM.