Italian Cainero claims skeet gold

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Video - Cainero wins women's skeet for Italy

Italian shooter Chiara Cainero held her nerve to win the women's skeet final in Beijing following a dramatic shoot-off.

The 30-year-old European champion had set a new Olympic record in the qualifiers but struggled in the final.

But she edged out American Kimberly Rhode and German Christine Brinker after all three women had finished with a total on 93 in the heavy rain.

Britain's Elena Little failed to reach the six-woman final after finishing 14th in qualifying.

"It went quite well in that mentally I was very strong, but technical conditions didn't go my way and luck wasn't on my side," she said afterwards.

"I felt I tried the best I could, and made one mistake which cost me two targets. I'm disappointed with my score but not my performance - when it's not your day it's not your day."

Cainero led after qualifying with a score of 72, but she hit only 21 of 25 targets in the final round, enabling Rhode and Brinker to catch up.

But she hit the first two targets of the shoot-off while Rhode and Brinker each missed one.

"It is difficult to describe how I feel," she said. "It was tense out there and the rain did not help matters. It was not easy to shoot today."

When the shoot-off continued to determine second place, Rhode ended up with the silver medal.

Rhode won gold in the double trap in both 1996 and 2004, but was forced to focus on the skeet when her old event was eliminated from the Olympics.

World number one Wei Ning of China, the silver medallist in Athens, disappointed local fans by finishing last of the finalists.

"My problem was not the technique, but the rain," said Wei. "It really affected my performance because the rain made my gun slippery and I missed several targets.

"I am very upset not to have won a medal at home."

Defending champion Diana Igaly of Hungary failed to make the final, coming in 13th after the qualification round.