Commonwealth Games 2010: Mick Gault fails in record bid
2010 COMMONWEALTH GAMES Venue: Delhi, India Dates: 3-14 October 2010 Coverage: Comprehensive live coverage across BBC TV, radio, online, BBC Red Button, mobile and BBC iPlayer services. Find full coverage details here. And a full schedule of events here.
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Shooter Gault confirms retirement
England shooter Mick Gault confirmed his retirement from the sport as he failed in his bid to equal the all-time Commonwealth Games medal record.
Gault, 56, came seventh in the 25m pistol singles, won by Singapore's Bin Gai, and leaves Delhi with two medals.
He stands on 17 medals, one short of the 18 won by Australian shooter Phillip Adams, who holds the record.
"It is all over. I have had enough and the enjoyment is not there anymore," an emotional Gault told BBC Sport.
Earlier in the Games, Gault had come second with Nick Baxter in the 10m air pistol pairs and third in the 25m pistol pairs.
Gai earned victory with 570 points, ahead of Trinidad's Roger Peter Daniel (563) and India's Samaresh Jung (559).
Norfolk's Gault missed out on a medal by eight points after firing 551.
"I have achieved 17 medals, which is still the highest ever in five Games," said Gault.
"So I am still a record breaker, but it gets harder as you get older. It is more like hard work and I am not used to that."
Adams' haul of 18 medals was spread over six Commonwealth shooting competitions.
Gault, who began his international career in 1990, told BBC Sport the unfamiliar phenomenon of media scrutiny had played a part in his failure to match Adams' milestone.
The people from the press made me very aware of this record
Mick Gault
"When I came out to the Games I was aware of a record in the back of my mind - 18 medals or something like that," he said.
"But the people from the press made me very aware of this record.
"We did a 90-minute press conference at the beginning to get it out of the way - but all it did was drill it in and, in retrospect, the management have admitted that was a negative thing to do to me."
Gault will now work as a coach on his return to Britain.
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