
Czech shooter Jiří Lipták outlasted teammate David Kostelecký in a shoot-off to win men’s trap gold on Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 39-year-old held his nerve to beat off a challenge from his teammate David Kostelecký, 46, who was making his sixth Olympic appearance, at the Asaka Shooting Range.
The top position changed hands between them and they finished tied for first place on 43 targets out of 50. But Liptak, who took silver in the European Championships and finished first after the qualifying rounds at Tokyo 2020, won when he hit seven targets to Kostelecky’s six in the shoot off.
“It was our big wish to stand next to each other on the podium and it happened here. It is huge,” said Liptak after the event. “He [Kostelecky] is my longtime friend. We have been training for several years together. It is great for me to learn from him.
“I still kind of don’t realise that I am the Olympic champion, but it feels good.”
World and European champion in men’s trap, Great Britain’s Matthew Coward-Holley, took the bronze on 33 targets.
Liptak finished 18th at the 2012 London Games but did not compete in Rio five years ago. Kostelecky earned his second medal in his sixth Olympics with the gold he won at the 2008 Beijing Games.
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