Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Matthew Coward-Holley takes bronze in men’s trap, Jiri Liptak wins shoot-off for gold
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Updated 29/07/2021 at 13:00 GMT
Coward-Holley secured Team GB their sixth bronze medal – and their 17th in total – at the Olympics. The 2019 world champion could not quite do enough to force his way into the gold-medal picture, but still secured Britain’s first shooting medal in Japan. You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+
'A fine reward' - GB's Coward-Holley wins bronze in men’s trap
Matthew Coward-Holley secured Team GB’s first medal on day six as he took bronze in the men’s trap at Tokyo 2020.
Coward-Holley struck 33 of 40 targets in the final, with Czech Republic's Jiri Liptak edging compatriot David Kostelecky in a shoot-off for gold.
The 2019 world champion hauled himself into the gold-medal battle with 14 consecutive hits, but three misses in the next nine saw him drift out of contention.
Liptak and Kostelecky were still level after 40 rounds which led to a shoot-off. Kostelecky had won the title in Beijing back in 2008 but could not add a second gold to his collection as Liptak edged him out.
Coward-Holley, 26, had qualified second for the final after not missing a clay in the last three rounds, but the man who was crowned European champion last month could not quite find his very best form to push the Czech pair all the way.
Speaking in the aftermath of the final, Coward-Holley said: "Being my first Olympic final, the first little bit is always that little bit of tension, that little bit of nerves. But you've just got to relax and trust yourself that you can do it.
"It's a little bit of a mix of emotions. I'm a bit lost for words. It's my first Olympics so to come away with a medal, it's phenomenal."
The final comprises six shooters with 25 targets to hit before any of them are dismissed.
Coward-Holley was tipped as a GB gold medal contender but a slow start saw him miss three of his first 10 targets. He battled back with 14 straight hits to surge back into contention with 21/25 seeing him in third as competitors began to bow out. He remained in bronze place after 30 shots and when Jorge Martin Orozco Diaz, the early pace-setter, was eliminated it left him guaranteed a place on the podium.
The bronze sees him emulate Ed Ling's achievement in the men's trap in Rio 2016.
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