Hancock falls short of gold medal triple

Vincent Hancock found the third time less than a charm. Hancock failed to defend his Olympic gold Saturday, finishing 15th in the skeet competition.

Hancock, 27, won two consecutive Olympic gold medals and was seeking to become the first shooter — pistol, rifle or shotgun — to win three in a row. But he failed even to make the finals.

Instead, Italy’s Gabriele Rossetti beat Sweden’s Marcus Svensson in the final. Independent Olympic Athlete Abdullah Alrashidi iof Kuwait took the bronze.

Hancock, who began shooting while growing up in Eatonton, hit only 71 of 75 targets in first day qualifying Friday. His final score of 119/125 on Saturday left him without another medal shot.

Shooting 122 guaranteed competitors a spot in the semifinals, with five shooters at 121 needing a shoot-off for two spots.

“It was frustrating; I didn’t shoot well here or in practice,” Hancock said via USA Shooting. “I felt really well down here, but it was just little things here and there that I can’t really pinpoint what they were. I felt that these were some of the hardest targets we’ve seen in quite some time. I knew that I had to run a 50-straight (Saturday) and look at the scoreboard, sure enough if I do, then I’m in a shoot-off to get into the final. Pretty simple when you look at things. You just have to go out there and execute, and I just didn’t do that.”

Hancock, a three-time world champion 16-time World Cup medalist, won his first Olympic gold medal as a 19-year-old in Beijing in 2008. He became the first skeet shooter to repeat as Olympic champion at London four years later.

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Hancock falls short of gold medal triple."