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(Accokeek, MD) Team Beretta shooters Vincent Hancock and Kimberly Rhode dominated their competition and brought home gold medals once again at the recent 2019 ISSF World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico.
Hancock, the reigning ISSF World Champion in Men’s Skeet, conquered this competition and completed the first World Cup for the year with a perfect score in both the qualification and final rounds.
His outstanding performance equaled the Qualification World Record of 125/125 targets for the third time in his career, a record that he set at the 2015 ISSF World Cup in Acapulco. For the first time in his international career, Hancock also equaled the Finals World Record after hitting 60 out of 60 targets straight, besting the runner-up by 2 targets.
This gold medal win also marks Hancock’s career 11th World Cup gold medal. After his appearance in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Hancock switched from a standard DT11 Skeet shotgun to the new DT11 Skeet Black Edition, and his recent competition wins solidify why he is known as “Vinny the Great.”
“Acapulco has treated me well the last few times I was here and this time was no different. I’ve been able to have a lot of success the last two years, mainly because of my new DT11 Black. When I started shooting this gun in 2017, I knew that I had something special as soon as it was in my hands. As this competition started, I had a feeling that I could put together a really good couple of days and push myself to try to be perfect. Thankfully, everything fell into place for me during the match and went my way! I’m so proud the be a part of the Beretta family and Beretta Nation”, Hancock said about his perfect performance.
Rhode, a six-time Olympic medalist, extended her winning streak for 2019 when she topped the podium in the Women’s Skeet competition and claimed the 19th World Cup gold medal of her illustrious career.
Rhode began the competition with a remarkable qualification round and she entered the final round in third place with a score of 121 out of 125 targets.
Rhode topped the podium in the final round with an exceptional score of 57 out of 60 targets, just one target shy of the Finals World Record that she set in April of last year.
Earlier in the week, she also competed in the Women’s Trap Qualification MQS event with the hope of receiving the minimum qualifying score (92 targets) to qualify her to be eligible to compete in Trap at the 2020 Olympics. With a score of 115 out of 125 targets, Rhode beat the MQS requirement and will now be eligible to work towards making both the USA Trap and Skeet teams at the upcoming Olympic Trials in September.
Team Beretta shooters will continue their season with the upcoming ISSF World Cup in Abu Dhabi, UAE from April 5 to April 16.
About Team Beretta:
Team Beretta, founded in the early 1980s, is a team of professional shooters of various age and experience that compete as Brand Ambassadors for Beretta USA in the fields of trap, skeet, sporting clay, pistol, 3-gun, and precision long range competitive shooting. Since 1977, Beretta has led the way in all forms of competitive shooting sports and continues to strive for excellence. During the 2016 Olympic Games, Team Beretta shooters took ten out of the possible fifteen podiums in trap, double trap, and skeet shooting events. Team Beretta competes not only at the highest professional levels as well as national and regional competitions, but our shooters also mentor and train future competitors.
Beretta, established in 1526, is the oldest industrial dynasty in the world tracing its roots through 15 generations of continuous family ownership. Firearms bearing the Beretta name have been sold for almost 500 years. Beretta USA Corp. was founded in 1977 and supplies the standard sidearm to the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, Beretta manufactures, distributes, and markets a complete line of firearms, accessories, and apparel. Beretta also owns and operates six retail Beretta Gallery stores worldwide. For additional information, visit www.Beretta.com.
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USA Contact:
Kimberlee Eveland
301-283-2191 ext. 1384