Nathan Hales maintained his composure under pressure to secure a remarkable Olympic shooting gold medal.
Hales, from Chatham, demonstrated remarkable poise in the sweltering near-40-degree temperatures in Chateauroux, located over 200 miles south of Paris.
In the shooting final on Tuesday, Hales clinched gold while breaking the Olympic record, with his friends and family, including his partner Charlotte Kerwood, a double Olympian, cheering him on.
Hales’ victory marks Great Britain’s first Olympic shooting gold in 12 years, following Peter Wilson’s double trap win at London 2012, and the first in this discipline since Bob Braithwaite’s victory in 1968.
He excelled during qualification, maintaining his focus as 11cm targets sped past him at 40mph. In the final, he began with 15 flawless shots and ended with 18, missing only twice, which placed him four shots ahead of China’s Qi Ying. Guatemala’s Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas rounded out the podium.
“It was incredibly intense with many nerve-wracking moments, but nothing compares to winning an Olympic gold and setting an Olympic record,” Hales said.
“I tried to treat it like any other event and savor every moment. Knowing I had a bit of a lead was reassuring, but I focused on my own performance and not on the competition.
“It was tight, so I stuck to my routine, relied on sports psychology techniques, and trusted myself. I didn’t realize I had set an Olympic record until someone mentioned it.”
Hales attributed his success to years of hard work and training, focusing on knocking down targets one by one without worrying about the score. The excitement from fans watching at home has been a pleasant surprise for him.
Securing his Olympic spot with a silver medal at the World Championships in Osijek two years ago, Hales has since excelled, setting a world record in Lonato during the ISSF World Cup and arriving in Paris ranked second in the world.
Reflecting on his journey, Hales shared that his early exposure to the sport came from following his father around competitions, which inspired him to pursue an Olympic career over the past decade.
He joked about the comparisons to Posh and Becks and admitted that his six-year-old son isn’t yet interested in shooting, despite their attempts to teach him.
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