Giant Czech towers over field in the Men's Trap

(BEIJING, August 10) -- The Czech Republic's David Kostelecky put in a stellar display to win the gold medal in the Men's Trap in Beijing on August 10.

Kostelecky hit a perfect 25 targets in the final. He had the highest score in the qualification rounds, hitting 121 targets.

Italian Giovanni Pellielo won the silver medal, hitting 23 targets in the final and 120 in the qualification rounds.

A shoot-off for the bronze medal was held between former Olympic gold medalists Michael Diamond of Australia and Alexey Alipov of Russia after both shooters hit a total of 142 targets.

Alipov won the bronze medal after hitting three out of three targets compared to Diamond's two.

Kostelecky was the overnight leader in the event after hitting 73 targets after the first three qualification rounds on August 9.

The 33-year-old Czech continued his good form today, only missing one shot in the final two qualification rounds and earning a total score of 121, making him the best-placed qualifier going into the final.

The question on everyone's lips was whether Kostelecky would crumble under the pressure of having to shoot against two former gold medalists in the final -- Alipov, gold medalist at Athens 2004 and Diamond, gold medalist at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.

In reply to this question, Kostelecky gave a resounding answer -- he hit a perfect 25 targets and won the gold medal with three more points than silver medalist Pellielo.

Pellielo put in a solid performance in the final, hitting 23 targets, but it was not good enough to beat the giant Czech (Kostelecky is 1.90m tall).

Alipov had mixed fortunes in the final. After shooting 121 in the qualification rounds, he performed poorly in the final, missing four targets.

However, he hit the target on his last ten shots, which was enough to force a shoot-off against Diamond for the bronze medal.

Italian Erminio Frasca looked like a strong medal contender but he collapsed under pressure in the latter stage of the final, missing three out his last four shots.