Amber Rutter wins Olympic skeet shooting silver three months after giving birth
She claimed silver in a sudden-death shoot-off and was surprised by her husband James and baby Tommy, who made the trip to France.
New mum Amber Rutter’s joy at becoming Britain’s first female Olympic shooting medallist was topped off by a surprise appearance by her husband and three-month old son.
Ms Rutter, 26, claimed silver in a sudden-death shoot-off after a gripping women’s skeet final in the scorching heat of Chateauroux.
It was tinged with controversy after she missed her sixth extra shot, despite television replays appearing to show that she had clipped the target.
Instead of watching her on TV at home, Ms Rutter’s husband James and baby Tommy made the surprise trip to France.
“We kept it on the down-low, she didn’t want anyone here, so we respected that, but last night me and Tommy hopped on a plane and came down a bit incognito and we managed to sneak in and surprise her.
“We flew from Heathrow to Paris and drove down last night.
“We decided two days ago and thought she’d love to look round, see Tommy and hopefully me.”
Golfer Tommy Fleetwood said that winning an Olympic medal had never been his childhood dream but that clinching silver will be “a memory etched in my heart forever”.
The 33-year-old from Southport finished one stroke short of US world number one Scottie Scheffler – who finished on 19 under par after equalling the course record of 62 – while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama claimed bronze.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I honestly never had this as a dream as a kid but it definitely became one in recent years. Golf is a beautiful sport.
“The passion, the emotion and the energy felt out there today was magical thank you!! I couldn’t be prouder to contribute to @teamgb’s medal count and represent the nation this week.
“Being on that podium with Scottie and Hideki will be a memory etched in my heart forever.”
Meanwhile, on Sunday Charlotte Fry described winning her first individual Olympic medal in the dressage Grand Prix Freestyle as “crazy”.
Fresh from winning bronze in the team event on Saturday, Fry and her stallion Glamourdale achieved a mark of 88.971% to secure another bronze, behind German riders Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth.
Gymnast Harry Hepworth, 20, from Leeds, won Britain’s first Olympic medal on the vault.
He finished third in his Olympic debut, with what TeamGB described as a “magical vault” that put him on the podium with gold medallist Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines and Armenia’s Artur Davtyan, who took silver.
Fellow gymnast Beckie Downie, 32, had to settle for a difficult seventh in the uneven bars final, after losing her grip and crashing to the floor.
She later said that “99.9 per cent that was probably my last performance”.
She wrote online: “The amount of love I have received today has been unbelievable.
“I always believe everything happens for a reason & Olympic medalist wasn’t in my cards.
“Against all the odds I made it back. Not only that but I made it to my 3rd Olympics/ first Olympic final & and have absolutely no regrets going after my dream.
“It might not be the ending I’d hoped but I’m so proud of the fight.”
She had dazzled on Tuesday as Britain’s women missed out on a team medal.
The day was especially poignant for her as it fell on the birthday of her brother Josh, who died suddenly at the age of 24 in 2021, as she was preparing to try for a place in the team for Tokyo.
