Going For Four

The most decorated Men’s Skeet shooter in the history of the Olympic games, Federal Ammunition’s Vincent Hancock will compete for an unprecedented fourth gold medal at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre outside of Paris later this summer. The 35-year-old has been representing the USA at the world’s most prestigious shooting events since age 16 and he says the honor of doing that has consistently increased.

“If you would have asked me then if I was going to compete in five Olympic Games and have the potential for four individual gold medals, I would have probably laughed! It's an extremely difficult sport, made even harder by an ever-rising level of competition. Looking back on it now, I'm thankful for each and every opportunity God has given me to do my best and have the chance to go for gold,” he says.

An Increasingly Difficult Field

Hancock plans on training hard leading up to the competition, and his experience at the venue will come into play.

“I have competed on the Chateauroux range once before, bringing home a gold in a Grand Prix held there last year. It was a difficult range, with fast targets. However, it played into my style quite well as I train on quicker-than-usual targets at home. I think the biggest challenge there will be getting up to speed, and making sure to truly match each target,” he says.

His number one rule to compete by is that anybody can be beaten on any given day. So, prepares himself for anything through training, something that becomes increasingly critical as the level of competition elevates.

“As a whole, the sport is turning into a professional sport like any other. More and more people are doing this full time, and winning is getting more difficult every year. Any athlete that has made the Olympic Team has a chance to make history,” Hancock says.

The Right Stuff

One thing different than years past, he will have family on location to support him in his quest for another gold medal.

“Thankfully, I will have my wife and both our daughters there to support me for the first time at an Olympic Games. I may be more excited for them to experience the Olympics than I am!”

“I train and compete with the Federal Gold Medal Paper clay target load,” he says. “There isn't another load in the world that hits a target as hard as those. With Gold Medal Paper, I trust that I will get a consistent speed, consistent payload, and consistent breaks from each and every shell I shoot.”