CHÂTEAUROUX, France — Adriana Ruano broke an Olympic record in the women's shooting trap final to score Guatemala the first Olympic gold medal in its history.
Ruano posted a final score of 45 in the event, beating Italy's Silvana Stanco by five points. Ruano's score surpassed the Olympic record of 43 set by Slovakia's Rehak Stefecekova Zuzana in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I can’t even believe it’s for real," Ruanno said to Olympics.com. "I’m so happy. I’m honored to be here, and it wasn’t easy to get here again. I want to thank Guatemala, and also my father.”
Ruano's triumph proved to be an upset as she beat out Spain's Fatima Galvez, Stanco, and Australia's Penny Smith, the top three ranked women's trap shooters in the world. Stanco took silver and Smith took bronze in the event.
The gold medal was just the third medal ever earned by Guatemala in the Olympics. Jean Pierre Brol earned Guatemala's first bronze medal on Tuesday in the men's shooting trap final. The only silver medal ever earned by Guatemala came in an athletics event at the 2012 London Games.
Guatemala has entered athletes in every Summer Olympics since the 1952 Helsinki Games, excluding 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1980.
With Paris already proving to be the most successful Olympics in Guatemala's history, the nation still has 10 athletes who will look to add to the trophy case.
