Birthday presents don’t get much better than a gold medal and Laetisha Scanlan made it a 28th birthday to remember when she won the Women’s Trap title on the Gold Coast, edging out Northern Ireland’s Kirsty Barr in a nail-biting finish.
As icing on the birthday cake, she also secured a Commonwealth Games record of 38 targets.
“The last shot went so quickly, I don’t even remember what I was thinking. All I knew was if I hit this I win and tried to stick to my routine as much as I could, considering the circumstances.”
It was a case of deja vu for the Victorian, who had to win a sudden-death shoot-off to book her spot in the final just as she had in Glasgow four years earlier.
After finishing in tied sixth position, Scanlan had to shoot for her spot in the final and one miss of the 100kph flying disk would cost her a chance at the gold medal.
Scanlan said she wasn’t as nervous as what she thought, because she had experienced the pressure before at Glasgow.
“I didn’t even think I’d make the finals after the third round but my day was like a roller coaster and was full of highs and lows,” Scanlan said.
“I knew she [New Zealand’s Natalie Rooney] was a fantastic shooter as she was a silver medallist at the Rio Olympics and I knew she was going to be hard to beat, but because I had been through it before I took with me a bit of confidence.”
Rooney was the first to make an error and Scanlan capitalised on the eighth target to secure her spot in the final. From there on, Scanlan never looked in doubt despite missing twice in her last five shots to give Barr an opening.
It came down to Scanlan’s final shot of the day to claim the gold medal and she duly saluted before an unscripted rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ was blared from the crowd.
“I don’t know why I make it so hard for myself!” a teary-eyed Scanlan told the crowd after sealing victory.
“I was well aware that I had a two target lead heading into the last five [shots] and all I had to do was hit one. I then missed a couple of shots and finally landed the last one which was crazy when I hit it.
“There was so much relief, excitement and tears after all of that and to top it off it was my birthday so it was a huge roller coaster ride.”
The three-time gold medallist won her first Games medal on debut in the trap pairs at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, before setting an Australian record (74/75 targets) in 2012, a World Cup win in 2013 and gold on the 2014 World Cup circuit and Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
But these achievements might never have happened if it wasn’t for her Dad, who was a recreational clay target shooter, taking her as a 10-year-old to the local club each weekend.
Having her Dad look on as she won, made her birthday and her GC2018 victory even more special. She burst into tears when she saw him after her event.
“My dad is my number one supporter, so seeing him I instantly cried” she said.
