SHOOTING star Peter Wilson fired his way to Olympic gold for Team GB.
The Dorchester -born shooter won the Double Trap Men’s contest.
Wilson needed one hit from the final two targets but nailed both before falling to his knees in tears.
A capacity crowd gave the new Olympic champion a standing ovation before he climbed into the first row of seats to greet his mother and tearful girlfriend Michelle.
As he was surrounded by photographers he simply said: “It’s awesome, fantastic.'”
Scoring an impressive 188 out of 200 in the final, Wilson became the Olympic champion on his Games debut.
Wilson, now living in Sherborne, struggled to put the feeling of being an Olympic champion into words.
He said: “It’s weird to say that. I’m an Olympic gold medallist.”
He added: “It meant a huge amount. It’s really, really difficult. I’ve watched us win a couple of gold medals and another number of medals and you watch these guys talking after and they say ‘it’s just impossible to talk about it’ and it really is.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster for me from start to finish.
“There are a lot of people I have to thank. I won't say it all now because it would go on forever but obviously the British Shooting management and the National Lottery – without them I wouldn’t be here.
“Most importantly without a shadow of a doubt Ahmed Al Maktoum, my coach. There is no doubt I would not be here today if it wasn’t for him. A massive thank you to him. Last mum and dad, and my girlfriend. Huge thanks to them.
“What a feeling, what a rush.”
Wilson admitted the nerves were jangling when rival Mosin closed to within one point halfway through the final.
“It was difficult, you are trying not to focus on that but on your technique,” he said.
“I spoke in depth with my coach and we had a plan which we tried to execute as well as we could, but things are slightly out of your control when you are in that environment.
“I did know that Vasily got quite close in the middle and then I got further ahead at the end.
“But dropping a complete pair was not in the plan. I think everyone got a bit more nervous then, including me, but it’s a dream come true. You can’t train for the Olympics .
How can a farm boy from Dorset possibly prepare for that?
“It’s just impossible. So I just tried to enjoy every moment and the crowd were amazing.
“It’s been funny, my training’s been erratic, I haven’t been training as well as I’d hoped but I knew come the competition I would raise my game, that’s what I’m here for and there’s no bigger one than the Olympic Games in London so I really hoped everything would come together on the day.
“But those hours of training for years and years really came together today.”
Coaching pedigree
Wilson is coached by none other than Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, the Olympic gold medallist in the same event at Athens in 2004 and a member of Dubai’s Royal Family.
Wilson thought his mentor would not be able to be present due to health problems but he made the journey to London.
“He was confident today,” said Sheikh Ahmed. “He wasn’t confident a week ago, he was worried about the fans, shooting at home and that he had to win it. I told him if you are planning to win it you are not going to win it. It was hard.”
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