ACCORDING TO BRITISH media, the referees were wrong to not recognize a valid shot by female shooter Amber Rutter in the 2024 Olympic flying disc shooting final.

In the women’s flying discus final, Rutter and her Chilean opponent, Francisca Crovetto Chadid, reached the final round, with a score of 55 out of a possible 60. Therefore, the two shooters had to shoot a tie-break, basically the opponent who missed the shot first was eliminated, if the other shot hit.

Amber Rutter during the women’s 2024 Olympic discus final at the Chateauroux shooting centre, France on August 4, 2024. Photo: PA

With the tie-break at 5-5, Rutter would have won the gold medal if she had hit both discs, after Chadid had made an error earlier. However, the referee determined that the British shooter had only hit one target, although slow-motion replays showed she had hit both discs. Chadid’s next shot hit both targets, winning 7-6 to claim Chile’s first Olympic gold medal.

Rutter was not convinced and turned to the referee to complain. Her coach, Richard Brickell, also appealed. But unlike most international shooting competitions, the 2024 Olympics do not have a rule allowing appeals, and the referees are not allowed to review the slow-motion video like viewers on television. Therefore, the British newspaper Daily Mail headlined: “Rutter robbed of gold medal”.

“It was clear that Rutter hit both targets,” Brickell said. “Every coach, every spectator in the stadium and everyone watching on TV knew that Rutter had hit the target. Unfortunately, the only people who didn’t see it were the referees. It was a big mistake, and an important medal.”

The Olympic website, when reporting the event, also wrote that Rutter “appeared to have hit both targets, but the referee ruled it a miss”.

Rutter also believes she hit the target, but accepts the reality. “That’s sport, and sometimes you have to live with that reality,” said the 27-year-old. “I tried my best anyway, and I’ll celebrate this silver medal. But the important thing in the Olympics is the truth, and the viewers watching on TV will wonder why the referee didn’t see this as a valid shot.”

In 2013, Rutter made history as the youngest shooter to win the World Cup, at the age of 15. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she contracted Covid-19 the day before departure, so she had to miss it. Although she has won two world gold medals, this is Rutter’s first Olympic medal. She looked happy as she held her four-month-old son after the final loss to Chadid.