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
For the full story, go to https://fieldsportschannel.tv/amber2024
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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.
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