Vincent Hancock (USA) competes in day two of the skeet men qualification during the 2012 London Olympic Games at Royal Artillery Barracks. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)
LONDON -- U.S. Army Sgt. Vincent Hancock became the first American man to defend an Olympic gold medal in skeet shooting by winning the event Tuesday at the Royal Artillery Barracks in London.
The Eatonton, Ga. native serves with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit headquartered at Fort Benning.
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On Tuesday, he shot a 148 to hold a two-clay advantage over silver medalist Anders Golding of Denmark. Nasser Al-Attiya of Qatar won the bronze with a 144 after winning a shoot off over Russia's Valeriy Shomin.
With Hancock's win and Kimberly Rhode's victory Sunday, the United States swept the skeet gold medals.
Hancock set an Olympic record in qualifying, missing only two targets for a 123 score. He hit 25 possible in the finals.
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He becomes the second American to defend a gold medal in shooting in an individual event. Gary Anderson achieved the feat in free rifle (no longer on the program) in the Tokyo 1964 and Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games.
Hancock becomes the 11th Olympic shooter from any nation to defend a gold medal in an individual shooting event. He is only the second American man to win a skeet shooting gold medal, along with Matthew Dryke in 1984.
Frank Thompson (Alliance, Neb.) shot a 119 in qualifying and finished in eighth place.
(Military Times/USA Today)