American soldier Vincent Hancock retained his Olympic skeet crown Tuesday after a flawless display in the final as the US drew level with China in the battle for supremacy on the shooting ranges.
Under heavy grey skies in London the US Army sergeant -- who revealed he considered quitting the sport last year -- hit all 25 targets in the final, slamming the door on his rivals and setting a new Olympic record of 148.
Denmark's Anders Golding took silver with 146 hits while Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar showed no signs of nerves during a shoot-off for the bronze medal with Russia's Valeriy Shomin, achieving his first podium finish in five Olympics.
The United States now have two shooting golds in London, level with powerhouse China, who topped the medals table in the sport on home soil in Beijing with five golds. South Korea and Romania have one gold apiece.
Hancock's win at the Royal Artillery Barracks meant a US skeet double after Kim Rhode won the women's title, equalling the world record in the process.
Hancock -- a US Army sergeant who trains soldiers in marksmanship at Fort Benning in Georgia -- became the first two-time winner of the event but revealed last year he had considered quitting the sport.
"Going out there and doing it again, taking the opportunity that God's given me to get back out on the field and compete for the Olympic gold medal again, there's no feeling like it," said the 23-year-old.
But the father-of-two, who is leaving the military in November after creating a shooting academy with his father, said it had been a different story last year.
"Last year I almost considered quitting. I wasn't enjoying myself going out there any more. I didn't want to go train and for this sport you have to be dedicated to your training.
"But then at the end of the year I knew I had to change something, I had to figure out something so my wife and I reassessed what we wanted to do. We prayed about it a lot and we came up with this is my passion.
"This is what I love to do every single day so I reset my goals. I wanted to come out here and win another Olympic gold medal and just keep going -- win as many medals as possible."
Professional rally driver al-Attiyah, who won last year's Dakar Rally, was mobbed by members of the Qatar Olympic entourage after holding his nerve to win bronze in the shoot-off.
"I feel really fantastic for me because I've been waiting for this medal for five Olympics," he said. "I've been in the final two times and in Athens (2004) I had a shoot-off for bronze medal and I lost.
"But here immediately when I was in the shoot-off I remembered that day and I said 'OK, I will do my best to finish third'."
There are a total of 15 medals on offer in shooting in rifle, pistol and shotgun events.
