Two-time Olympic gold medallist Vincent Hancock has won his third consecutive ISSF Shotgun World Cup gold medal during the 2018 ISSF Shotgun World Cup leg at the Malta National Shooting Ranges at Ta’ Kandja.

Hancock, who won Olympic Skeet gold for the US in 2008 and 2012, added his win in Malta to victories he claimed earlier this year in Guadalajara, Mexico and Changwon, Korea.

Beating off stiff competition from Azmy Mehelba of Egypt and Gabriele Rossetti of Italy, to win his tenth World Cup, Hancock said:

This was definitely one of hardest competitions to shoot in. We had a lot of weather changes, sunlight was perfect, Malta is a beautiful country, but the wind was definitely a factor in the last few days. Today it kind of settled down a little bit, the targets were more consistent and we saw a lot of high scores today. Unfortunately in the final we all missed quite a few targets, there was a little bit of a glare because of the sun getting so low behind the high house

Hancock, a US Army Veteran and former member of the Army Marksmanship Unit, was interviewed after the competition:

At one point Hancock slipped to second but rallied managing to take his last pair with Mehelba of Egypt and Rossetti of Italy taking the silver and bronze medals.

SIGGIEWI – JUNE 9: (L-R) Silver medalist Azmy MEHELBA of Egypt, Gold medalist Vincent HANCOCK of the United States of America and Bronze medalist Gabriele ROSSETTI of Italy pose with their medals after the Skeet Men Final at the Malta National Shooting Ranges during Day 3 of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun on June 9, 2018 in Siggiewi, Malta. (Photo by Nicolo Zangirolami/ISSF)

ISSF Shotgun World Cup was the inaugural event at Malta’s new 25-acre shooting ground which cost around 7 million Euros or $8.2 million to complete.  The competition in Malta continues until the 15th June and a final ISSF Shotgun World Cup event is set to take place in Tucson, Arizona between 9th and 19th July.

Source