-11 to the Games. Skeet Men event: tough range for champs

Statistics place some names in the spotlights: Georgios Achilleos of Cyprus, Tore Brovold of Norway, and Vince Hancok of the USA are among the favorites, as in 2008. But they are not alone, with older glories like the Ukraine’s 2000 Olympic Champion Mikola Milchev, or younger champions like Greece’s World Record holder Efthimios Mitas, ready to challenge them.

Georgios Achilleos is currently ranked in third in the world, but is at the top of ISSF NEWS Magazine’s “Super25 Chart”, considering his recent results. The Cypriot athlete competed in 16 ISSF events within the last four years, making it to 12 finals, and finished on the podium 10 times (with 4 victories). Numbers are on his side, with a personal best of 124 hits in qualifications and 25 in finals recorded in the last cycle. But the 32-year old sharpshooter also started the 2008 Olympic Games as one of the favorites, missing, however, the podium during the final. Since then, he changed his coach and started working with the 2004 Italian Olympic Champion Andrea Benelli, spending hours on technique and materials.

Achilleos is Cyprus’ biggest Olympic hope, and returning to London – where he was born in 1980 – he will certainly try to win that medal he has been looking for since 2004. Waiting for him at the final range, the current World Rank leader, Norwegian flag-bearer Tore Brovold, is ready to take the challenge. The 2008 Olympic Silver medalist is 10 years older than Achilleos (he was born in 1970), but that could turn into an advantage on the Royal Artillery Barracks Shooting Field, where experience will be a winning card. Brovold, a two-time European Champion holding the World Record, has been shooting at outstanding levels in the last Olympic cycle, making it to 15 finals, earning 7 medals and winning two matches. And his last three ISSF podiums, the 2011 World Championships and World Cup Final Silver medals, as well as a third place at the 2012 pre-Olympic test event in London, placed him on the top of the favorites list.

But Achilleos and Brovold will have to keep an eye on the current Olympic Champion, the USA’s Vincent Hancock. The 23-year old athlete is still the youngest and the fastest, even though, during the last 4 years, he has been unable to match the top results he scored during the previous Olympic cycle. The young World Record holder (he was the first to score 150 out 150 targets record in 2007), participated in 14 ISSF competitions since 2009, finishing three times on the podium, winning one match, and qualifying for the 2012 Games by winning the 2011 Pan Am Games. During the current season, he competed at the pre-Olympic World Cup in London, placing in fourth right behind the medalists after losing a shot-off to Brovold. But the American shooter declared his confidence: “I can shoot better than this. London can be a tough range with that tricky background, but I know I can make it next July.” And his impressions were confirmed by Sweden’s Stefan Nilsson, the 22-year old winner of the pre-Olympic World Cup last April. “It’s a difficult range for Skeet. There’s a green net on the background, you can see through it and sometimes it’s not easy to spot the targets against it.” A tough range? That can only mean there’s going to be a tough fight for the medals.

Skeet Men

Date of the Final in London: Tuesday, 31.07.2012 at 14:00

Reigning Olympic Medallists

Current World Ranking Leaders

Current World Record Holder

Current Olympic Record Holder

ISSF NEWS Magazine “Super25 Chart”