The 20-year old Italian broke 5 records, to win the Trap Women Final with 6 targets of advantage on her followers.
Jessica Rossi just made it. The 20-year old Italian shooter won the Trap Women Gold medal with 99 hits, establishing a new Final World Record as well as a new Final Olympic Record. According to the rules of the International Shooting Sport Federation, she is still a junior shooter, and therefore all the junior records were broken as well by Rossi’s performance.
"You can't get any happier than this. What I wanted was a medal, not a record. I am still competing in the junior categories so it was important for me to get this victory. The world record is fantastic but the main thing is a medal." Jessica said.
The Italian shooter turned out to be simply unbeatable. Jessica walked into the final with a qualification score of 75 hits out of 75 targets. Perfection. Nobody else had done it before, so she set the new World Record and the new Olympic Record, shattering the previous 96-hit records established by Slovakia’s Zuzana Stefecekova in 2006.
"After the first five traps in the final, I had complete confidence I could do it. I know that believing in it I could give it all I had. I was a bit worried about the final because things can go wrong. I knew I could concentrate and focus just by believing in it and I did." The Italian shooter commented on her final.
“She has been just perfect. At this morning’s qualification she shot 75 targets strait, using the second barrel just 5 times.” A technical member of the Italia staff said.
Rossi’s was Italy’s first Gold medal in shooting, in this Olympic edition. And it has a special meaning for the 20-year old finalist. Her family suffered indeed the consequences of the earthquake which hit Italy on May the 20th. Her parents had to leave the family house in Crevalcore, and Jessica moved to another city – Ponso - to train for the Olympics.
"I badly wanted to win, exactly for that reason. My family's house was damaged and they have been working on repairing and refurbishing it. They should be able to move back today!" Jessica said “And with the money I will receive for this medal, I will try to buy a house. A new one.”
The Silver and the Bronze medals were assigned through a breathtaking shoot-off. Beijing’s Silver medallist Zuzana Stefecekova of Slovakia (28), France’s Delphine Reau (38) and San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli (24) all finished tied with an overall score of 93 hits. In the following tie-breaker, Perilli was the first to drop out by missing her second target. Then, Stefecekova outdid Reau 3 to 2 hits.
"When I hit the first target I thought I would not fall down. When I saw Alessandra (Perilli) miss the target I knew I'd won a medal." Stefecekova said, about the shoot-off.
"My objective was to reach the final and my heart was bursting. I felt like I could not cope with the emotion in the shoot-off. It was a dream for me, indescribable." San Marino’s Perilli said. The shooter was London 2012 only qualified athlete, for the small country: all the other participants had received wild cards.
“I have been lucky that I was shooting third because it gave me a slight advantage. I missed the third shot but I do not have any regrets." France’s Delphine Reau said about winning the Bronze medal.
World’s #1, Spain’s Fatima Galvez (25), ended up in fifth place with a total score of 87 hits, followed by Australia’s 2004 Olympic Champion Suzanne Balogh (39).
“The changing weather really affected my performance. But I am not top upset. I made it to the final, and I am happy with it. I will take some time off, now. The Games are over, it’s time for holidays!” Galvez said, smiling in spite of all.