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American shotgun shooter Vincent Hancock could join the elite list of athletes including Michael Phelps and Carl Lewis if he wins his 4th Olympic gold medal in Skeet at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hancock was named to the U.S. shotgun team for the Olympic Games in Paris along with seven other shooters. The 35-year-old showcased his razor-sharp eyesight at the U. S Olympic Trials-Shooting Shotgun, and will now be representing America on the grand stage for the fifth time.
Hancock has taken part in the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics. Barring 2016, he won the gold in Skeet in all other appearances and is highly favored to retain the gold in Paris later this year. If he does so, Hancock will join an elite list of Americans to win Olympic gold four times in a single event.
He will join Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter as the only Americans to win the same Olympic event four times. Hancock will also be only the sixth athlete ever to achieve this feat.
While Phelps achieved the feat during the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Carl Lewis did it during the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
Discus throwing legend Al Oerter was the first American to achieve this feat. He did it at the 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games.
Vincent Hancock on Olympic dream
Vincent Hancock started international Skeet shooting at the age of 12, and even though he struggled early, he had already made up his mind to become an Olympic Champion. 23 years later, he has done it thrice and is looking to add a historic 4th gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Speaking with USA Shooting in an interview, the 35-year-old recalled the time he decided to go for Olympic glory.
"I shot really well my first day and thought ‘This is fun I can do this’. The next day I shot terrible but on the drive home I told my parents ‘I want to go to the Olympics, and I want to win a gold medal’.”
And when he did win his first Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hancock was feeling nothing but a rush of emotions.
"It was a dream come true. It was something I had worked for since I was 12 years old. I was expected to win, and I expected myself to win, but at the same time accomplishing that feat was something that is hard to put into words," he revealed.
Hancock registered a new Olympic record in Tokyo, hitting 59 of the 60 targets in the final. In the process, he also became the first Skeet shooter to bag three Olympic gold medals.
