Olympics-Shooting-Crovetto Chadid ends Chile's wait for gold after shoot-off drama

Paris 2024 Olympics - Shooting - Skeet Women's Final - Chateauroux Shooting Centre, Deols, France - August 04, 2024. Francisca Crovetto Chadid of Chile in action. /Amr Alfiky

CHATEAUROUX, France - Francisca Crovetto Chadid ended Chile's two-decade-old wait for an Olympic gold with a dramatic shoot-off victory against Britain's Amber Rutter in the women's skeet event at the Paris Games on Sunday.

Chile won two golds at the 2004 Athens Games and have not had another athlete on the podium since Fernando Gonzalez won the tennis silver in Beijing four years later.

That drought finally ended on a hot afternoon at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre where the 34-year-old Crovetto Chadid edged out Rutter 7-6 in the shoot-off following a 55-55 stalemate.

More drama unfolded towards the end as Rutter, competing four months after giving birth to a son, missed a shot in her final round, which she contested but the officials did not agree.

Replays suggested Rutter clipped the target but the purple powder inside it did not explode, which led to it being adjudged a miss. Video assistant referee (VAR) is not in place for the shooting events at the Paris Games.

"I still don't believe it," Crovetto Chadid said after becoming Chile's first female Olympic champion.

"I was so focused on trying to hit every target and pass every step of this final. I think I will realise tomorrow what happened."

Silver medallist Rutter did not let the shoot-off confusion mar her joy, though she advocated the use of VAR.

"I do truly believe that I did hit that last target," the 26-year-old said with a wry smile.

"I just don't want to let something like that impact the way I feel right now.

"Hopefully we can bring in VAR into these competitions, so that we can get a really fair, level playing field."

Rutter was considered a favourite to win the gold in Tokyo three years ago but had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 the night before flying to Japan.

Austen Smith of the United States, mentored by four-times Olympic champion Vincent Hancock, took bronze.

"I'm still in shock. This is my wildest dream," Smith said.

"I've been fighting for this for the past decade of my life. I can’t believe it."