Amber’s Olympic skeet ‘chip of god’

Fieldsports Channel

Britain’s Olympic skeet silver medallist Amber Rutter drew praise for the sporting way she reacted to Olympic officials robbing her of gold.   For the full story, go to https://fieldsportschannel.tv/amber2024

Transcript

00:00Britain's Olympic skeet silver medalist Amber Rutter drew praise for the sporting way she

00:05reacted to Olympic officials robbing her of gold.

00:09Amber, you have just won a silver medal at the Olympics. How does that feel?

00:14Just even saying it doesn't sound real. It is something that I didn't even think at one

00:20point would even be possible. So the fact that I am sat here with an Olympic medal of

00:24any colour around my neck is just unreal. With the time frame I have had to even get

00:30here was an accomplishment and something that me and our team were really proud of. But

00:35the fact that I have got a medal as well is even better.

00:38Amber won a silver in skeet in a shoot off with Chile's Francisca Cravetto-Chadid. With

00:42the scores level she was denied the chance of a gold medal after the referee said she

00:46had missed one of the clays. Footage clearly shows she clipped the target as you can see

00:50from this still taken from a video of the play-off. There's a large orange segment

00:56that broke off the first clay. Despite appealing to a referee to reverse the decision and allow

01:01the shot, the referees registered it as a miss. Chadid then hit both of her remaining

01:06clays to claim the Olympic title.

01:08It was intense. As soon as I got to the medals, that for me was like a massive relief because

01:15just knowing you are an Olympic medalist then. So then it is just what colour you are going

01:18to get. So then it was like game face back on and then going for that gold. It was definitely

01:25exciting because especially when I, well I think Fran missed a couple and then I pulled

01:31my way back into it and then we went to a shoot off. We won't start speaking too much

01:36about the last target but I would say, I would bet a lot of money that I hit that target.

01:43But that's the name of the game, that is sport for you. It doesn't always work in your favour

01:47but hopefully they will bring back this VAR system because I do think it is so important

01:52in a sport like shooting because they are so quick. They are so small in the sky and

01:58even just a little chip. We just want a fair playing field out there and I know that it

02:03was the exact same for some of the other girls in the final as well. So I think it is just

02:06something that should definitely be looked at to bring people back.

02:09Peter Wilson, who won Olympic shooting gold and double trap for Team GB in 2012, believes

02:13it's time for shooting to follow the lead set by other sports.

02:16What they really need is a bit like in cricket, a third umpire. So if the referees aren't

02:21entirely sure, they can go back to the third umpire who can show them within seconds whether

02:26that was a kill or a miss. So it isn't necessarily down to the athlete. The athlete can protest

02:31it, which is quite within their rights, as Amber did. And if the ref then isn't entirely

02:35sure and neither are the side referees, which happens as I've said before quite regularly,

02:40they can go to the third umpire and in a moment like that where it's for an Olympic gold medal.

02:46This isn't to get into a final. This isn't for a fourth, fifth place, third place. This

02:51is an Olympic gold medal. They go to the third umpire. They confirm that she hit the pair

02:57and then they move on. It's just the right way to do it. That's my view. And I wouldn't

03:01be surprised if we see it because this has just been such a shambles.

03:05Amber did tell her family not to come and watch her because she was worried about the

03:09pressure they would put on her. After the final, she turned around and there was her

03:13husband and new baby.

03:15As soon as I saw him, just sprinted over, gave Tommy a big hug and it's just made the

03:20whole Olympic experience for me just knowing, like it really reminds me of everything I've

03:24done and I just want to make baby Tommy proud.

03:27As for the run up to that final, Amber describes the pressure.

03:30It really has felt like a marathon these last two days, just dealing with the nerves and

03:35seeing everyone come and go, like seeing Nathan win his gold, which was just unbelievable

03:41and then seeing the other guys do such great performances, I felt like it was really on

03:45me to just get it done. And then that's exactly what I just came here to do. I've really been

03:51battling with these nerves, especially knowing how much it means to me and everyone else

03:56that's really put so much time and effort into helping me get to here. So, yeah, it's

04:01just been a crazy couple of days, but it's just like, I feel like I can finally breathe now.

04:06Those qualifiers are the majority, I'd say. Just dealing with the nerves, the pressure,

04:12just keep doing the same thing over and over again and you sort of build up your momentum

04:16and then you have to stop and then you have to build it up and stop. Like it is a real,

04:20real challenge, but that is the name of the game and that's what everyone's here for and

04:26that's what separates the top six, I guess. It's tough, but we made it.

04:31What do you do with yourself in between those rounds?

04:34Honestly, I just chat rubbish with Richard and Paul most of the time. They've got this

04:38thing of like singing to me and they've got a song for me and then they start making up

04:43games and literally just chatting rubbish at me. But I quite like it, so it makes me

04:48laugh and it just keeps me occupied. So chatting along with them and then, yeah, just scrolling

04:54on my phone and just keeping home updated as well because they were glued to the TV.

04:59So when people say to me that, oh, you look so chilled, you look so confident out there,

05:04inside it's going to pieces really. Like we just have to rely so heavily on my routine

05:08and I was saying the other day that you have to build up like some sort of arrogance and

05:14it's not my personality at all, but just to get you through, like you have to think that

05:17you're the best and you have to be like, there's no way that anyone's going to beat me just

05:22to big myself up to feel confident enough, puff my chest out, stand up tall and just

05:26fake it till you make it baby. My journey has not been smooth sailing. Like I was ready

05:32to quit after Tokyo. I feel like I've sort of lost a bit of that love of the sport because

05:39it used to be my hobby and now it's turned into my job. So I think it does lose that

05:43edge of just pure enjoyment. But the fact that I still push through those tough times

05:47and come out the other side, I've now got an amazing, beautiful family. I've got, I'm

05:54just, I've got my Olympic medal, like I'm on top of the world right now. So I feel like

05:58I've just made everything win.

06:01Stay up to date with clay shooting news. Watch Clay Sports on www.fieldsportschannel.tv

06:05link below.

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