Steve Scott admitted all the hard work was starting to pay off as he took silver at the Gabala 2015 World Cup - earning Team GB a fifth shooting quota place for Rio 2016 in the process. Scott shot 143 in the qualification rounds to reach the semi-finals where he shot a perfect 30/30 targets to go on to the gold medal match against American Walton Eller.
At this point the medal was just an added bonus for the athlete who knew he had already won a Rio 2016 quota place for Team GB, adding to those already won by Amber Hill, Ed Ling, Elena Allen and Jennifer McIntosh.
After a long wait between the semi-final and the gold medal match due to five of the athletes being involved in a tie-break shoot-off, Scott missed his first target and never managed to get back on top against a very strong Eller who didn't miss a target.
Scott finished on 26/30 but that wasn’t enough to claim a gold medal, not that Scott was too concerned.
"It feels amazing after all my hard work and dedication, it's finally paid off after coming so close a number of times,” Scott said.
"I have spent a lot of hours on the range with my coach, travelling to the correct ranges and practicing in high pressure situations.
"I have to admit I was very nervous going into the semi-final because there was so much riding on it, but my training kicked in and thankfully I was able to just stick to my technique and keep hitting the clays.
"After achieving the goal I've been aiming for over the last year, I relaxed quite a lot going into the gold medal match. As much as I wanted to go on and win, I think I probably took my foot off the gas a little bit!”
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