Originally published July 25, 1996
MILDURA Olympic bronze medallist Deserie Wakefield has already turned her attention to winning a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, her elated father and coach Gordon Wakefield, said.
Mr Wakefield received a telephone call at his Mildura home from Deserie who said: “At last we’ve made it, Dad.”
Mr Wakefield and his wife, Valerie, were up early to follow the scores from the Olympic double trap shotgun event in Atlanta.
There was great elation at the family home when Deserie reached the final round and then won the bronze medal after a shoot-off to decide second and third placings.
It was the first shotgun event staged for women at an Olympic Games.
Previously, Deserie, who competes under her former married name of Huddleston, had the best placing of seventh in a World championship.
Wakefield went into the 40-target final in sixth place on 103 points — trailing leader Kim Rhode of the United States by five.
The pressure of the finals saw Finland’s Riitta-Mari Murtoniemi score only 26 from 40 to drop from second to fifth and Japan’s Yoshiko Kira hit only 27 targets to sink from third to sixth.
But Wakefield calmly hit 36 of 40 targets to lift her into equal second place with German Susanne Kiermayer.
The pair lined up for a shoot-out and Wakefield missed one of her first two targets.
Kiermayer hit both of her first two targets, clinching the silver.
Born and bred in Mildura, Wakefield has previously finished 14th in the World Championships in 1994 and came 11th in a World Cup event in Korea last year.
