Faulds: I never had chance of gold

Britain's former shooting Olympic champion Richard Faulds finished bottom of six in the double trap final and revealed he had already given up on the gold medal before firing his first shot.

Faulds, 31, also admitted even the attraction of attempting to win gold in front of his home crowd in London 2012 may not be enough to prevent him from ending his Olympic career.

He said: "There is going to be a lot of water passing under the bridge over the next four years, so I'll just have to see. London is such a long time away." The Sydney Olympic champion will fly home tomorrow "disappointed " at not having clinched one of the other two medals.

"There was such a large gap from the qualifying round going into the final, that I thought only the bronze or silver were within my reach," he said.

Walton Eller, of the USA, won gold after taking an eight-shot lead into the final over Faulds with silver going to Italian Francesco Daniello and bronze to Chinese shooter Binyuan Huwho.

Faulds, who trains five times a week for five hours a day, was in bronze medal position for much of the final, and had hit the targets perfectly until his 14th shot.

He then fluffed his 16th and 24th and was out of the running.

Faulds, who was competing at his fourth Olympics, said competitors in his sport were less fortunate than other athletes.

"This is a single event and once its over, it is another four years. But if you are in a team event, then you get a second chance at a medal."