RIO DE JANEIRO: Abdullah Al-Rashidi of Kuwait, competing on the Independent Olympic Team, kisses his bronze medal during the award ceremony for the men's skeet event at Olympic Shooting Center at the 2016 Summer Olympics yesterday. - AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO: Crowd favorite Abdullah Al-Rashidi of Kuwait won the bronze in the men's skeet event yesterday, his first medal in six Olympic Games. After he beat Mikola Milchev of Ukraine, the 52-year-old Rashidi waved to the crowd as they chanted "Mustache!" in Portuguese and then kissed the ground. Rashidi hit all 16 discs to beat Milchev, who missed two. Rashidi topped the qualifying round by smashing 123 discs out of 125. He is the second Kuwaiti competing under the Olympic flag to medal in shooting this week as the country is banned by the International Olympic Committee.

Young Italian Gabriele Rossetti gave his country its third gold medal in Olympic shooting with a perfect score. The compact 21-year-old, a first-time Olympian and police officer, had perfect 16s in the semifinal and final, defeating 26-year-old Marcus Svensson of Sweden by just one shot. American two-time and defending Olympic champion Vincent Hancock did not qualify for the semi-finals. He was vying to become the first shooter to win a specific men's event at three Olympic Games in a row.

Veteran Kuwaiti shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani battled wet and blustery conditions to win the men's double trap event on Wednesday, becoming the first athlete competing under the Olympic flag to ever win a gold medal. The IOC suspended Kuwait in Oct 2015, accusing the government of interference in its national Olympic Committee. Earlier this month, Kuwait lost a court case against the IOC ban, meaning Kuwaiti athletes would only be allowed to compete under the Olympic flag. - Agencies