Gatewood alum Vincent Hancock recently won his fourth Olympic gold medal in men’s skeet shooting. The 35-year-old Army veteran edged out fellow American and protégé Conner Prince to claim the top spot at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Hancock previously won Olympic gold medals in Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Tokyo (2021). He didn’t medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
According to USAShooting.org, Hancock was feeling emotional after the medal ceremony at the Chateauroux Shooting Range.
“There was such a flood of emotions afterward that I could barely even stand up,” he said. “I was almost in tears at the end of it. There was just so much going on. To have my wife Rebekah, my mom, and my daughters here was special.”
By capturing another gold medal, Hancock became the sixth Olympic athlete in history to win the same individual event four times.
The local graduate joined Al Oerter (USA, discus), Carl Lewis (USA, long jump), Michael Phelps (USA, 200m individual medley), Paul Elvstrom (Denmark, sailing one-person class), and Mijain Lopez (Cuba, Greco-Roman heavyweight), as the only Olympic athletes to win four gold medals in the same event.
“It is an honor, honestly, to have my name in with every one of those guys,” Hancock said. “I never thought that I would be there.”
On Saturday, Hancock narrowly defeated Prince 58-57, to secure the one-two USA finish ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Meng Yuan Lee. The 24-year-old Prince trains with Hancock at his Northlake Shooting Sports facility in Texas.
Hancock said he was proud of Prince, especially since they previously discussed competing against each other on the highest stage.
“I am so happy for Conner,” Hancock said. “For us to have talked about going one and two for so many years now, for it to come to fruition is awesome.”
Hancock and Prince’s first- and second-place finishes mark the first time the U.S. has earned more than one medal in men’s skeet shooting at an Olympics. It also marked the first time more than one American reached the men’s skeet shooting competition final.
“When I started, my goal was just one (gold), and now knowing the names I am there with means a lot to me. It is special,” Hancock said.
On Monday, Hancock also participated in mixed team skeet shooting, a first-time event for the Olympics. He competed alongside Austen Smith for the U.S., but they fell short of the Italian pairing by just one point to earn a silver medal.
“We did everything we could. It was their day. We have gone something like four-for-four until today and won every team gold we have gone for,” Hancock pointed out about teaming up with Smith.
“We’ve done everything we could possibly ask for. She (Smith) has just come off a super-emotional day yesterday (winning bronze in the women’s skeet), and I am just so proud of her for hanging in there with me today.”
Following his gold medal win in Paris, Hancock confirmed to onsite reporters that he hopes to qualify for Team USA and compete in one more Olympic Games, the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Hancock graduated from Gatewood in 2007, attended Troy University, joined the U.S. Army, and finished his degree in 2014. In 2015, he became the third athlete to win a third world championship and added another world title three years later.