American veteran Rhode shoots down own world record to win World Cup gold

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Six-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode of the United States hit 58 out of 60 targets on Saturday at the ISSF World Cup held in Changwon, South Korea, shattering her previous world record of 56 and claiming the skeet shooting gold medal.

Rhode's record-breaking run in Changwon wasn't exactly a shot in the dark. The 38-year-old Californian also hit 56 targets en route to winning the World Cup event in Guadalajara, Mexico last month, equalling her own world record at that time.

Rhode said: "Walking out of here with a new world record wasn't something I expected, it's just something that happens. When I was out there, I was focusing on one target at a time, and I didn't really know where I stood until the very end."

The 20-year-old Amber Hill of Britain, who was born a year after Rhode won her first Olympic medal at the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, won silver, hitting 55 targets. Rhode's teammate Amber English hit 44 to climb onto the podium for bronze, marking the third World Cup medal of her career.

Rhode, the only woman to have won individual medals at six consecutive Olympic Games, is riding a wave of success. After a bronze in skeet in Rio 2016, she won a medal at every World Cup event in 2017 before clinching her second straight World Cup Final gold to close that season. She has now medaled at the first two World Cups of 2018. Enditem