Bookaar trap shooter Penny Smith finishes sixth in women's final at Tokyo Olympics

PENNY Smith's proud family says the chance to compete in the Tokyo Olympics women's trap shooting final was an "experience you can't buy".

The Bookaar-raised athlete finished sixth in a star-studded field on Thursday afternoon.

Penny, 26, will now turn her attention to Saturday's mixed trap shooting competition.

Her father Michael, who watched the final before scooting off to milk cows at their south-west Victorian dairy farm, said it was special watching his daughter compete on the world stage.

"If someone had have offered us that (sixth place) before she went you would've taken it," he told The Standard.

"It is a huge achievement for her. We were very, very proud of her and she's done a wonderful effort.

"Things didn't go the way she would've wanted them to go (in the final) but that's life. You can't buy that sort of experience."

Penny, who was one of two Australians in the six-person decider, was the first eliminated in a high-stakes competition.

The King's College Warrnambool alumni shot 13 of 25 targets.

"Someone has got to come sixth and someone has got to win," Michael said.

"Some days it's your day and some days it's not."

Italy's Silvana Stanco (22/30) was next eliminated five shots later, to finish fifth overall.

Australian Laetisha Scanlan (26/35) placed fourth after being cut at the 35-target mark.

Alessandra Perilli won San Marino's first Olympic medal, collecting bronze after hitting 29 of 40 targets.

The top-two - Slovakia's Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova and America's Kayle Browning - then had 10 more targets to determine gold and silver.

Stefecekova, a two-time silver medallist, claimed her first gold, beating Browning by one after hitting 43 of a possible 50 targets.

Penny started in an overall field of 26 which battled in five qualification rounds across two days and was one of just six women to make the final.

She hit 120 of a possible 125 targets, shooting double-barrel, to earn a spot.

"We knew it was going to be a high-scoring range and you'd have to shoot a 120 to make it," Michael said.

Penny will team up with fellow Australian Tom Grist on Saturday with qualification and medals for the mixed trap competition completed on one day.

Michael said it would be a tough challenge.

"There's 14 teams and they're all very, very good teams," he said.

"Both Penny and Thomas shoot 75 targets each over one day and then they add those scores together which gives you your 150.

"The top-two teams go into the gold and silver medal shoot-off and the third and the fourth teams go into the bronze medal shoot-off.

"You then shoot 25 targets single-barrel each and then it's whoever hits the most targets."

EARLIER, 2.30PM:

PENNY Smith will shoot for gold at the Tokyo Olympics this afternoon.

The Australian trap shooter, who grew up at Bookaar in south-west Victoria, was one of one six women to progress to the final after five hard-fought preliminary rounds spread across two days.

Penny, 26, hit 120 of a possible 125 targets including a perfect 25 in round three.

She shot 72/75 on Wednesday before finishing with back-to-back rounds of 24 on Thursday.

One competitor - Slovakia's Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova - finished with an unblemished 125.

San Marino's Alessandra Perilli (122) was second after qualifying.

Australia's Laetisha Scanlan (121) and Italy's Silvana Stanco (121) were next with Penny and America's Kayle Browning one behind on 120.

Scanlan, Stanco, Browning and Penny will have shoot-offs to decide who finishes third, fourth, fifth and sixth in qualifying.

Those numbers become the athletes' bib numbers in the final.

The five qualifying rounds were double-barrel, meaning competitors had two shots per target.

The shoot-offs and final will be single-barrel.

The final will consist of 25 targets initially. The shooter with the lowest score will then be eliminated from the medal race.

If two competitors are tied, the person with the higher-ranked bib number will progress.

Another shooter will be cut from contention at 30 targets.

The four remaining shooters will then take aim at five more targets before another shooter is eliminated.

The final three will shoot a further five targets each with the bronze medallist crowned after 40 targets.

The two remaining athletes will shoot 10 more targets for a total of 50.

This will determine the gold and silver medallists. If the competitors are tied, a sudden-death shoot-off will take place.

The women's final is at 3.30pm Thursday and will be televised on Channel 7 and 7-Plus.

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