IChemE member shoots to Olympic Gold

ICHEME member Catherine Skinner has won Australia a gold medal in shooting, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Skinner, 26, is a chemical engineering graduate from Australia’s RMIT University. She recovered from a poor start in the final of the women’s trap shooting to defeat New Zealand’s Natalie Rooney by 12–11. She recovered from three early misses to win Australia’s third gold of the games.

Skinner has won through at her first Olympics but said she feared the worst after her early lapse.

“I’ve had plenty of moments when I’ve missed the first shot and it’s sort of just gone down from there,” she said. “Today I was more in control. It also helped that I was getting a bit frustrated with the targets not coming up for me.

“It made me a bit more angry so instead of being nervous...I just wanted to see those little targets smash.”
Reacting to her victory, Skinner told olympics.com.au “Even now I am still amazed I have got this [gold medal] in my hand.”

She went on to praise the support of her family, friends and chemical engineering staff at RMIT.

“I doubt I would have got through [my degree] without the support of my lecturers at RMIT,” she said. “There were certainly times when they were getting sick of me because I would have to reschedule exams [because I was going away competing].

“Their flexibility was incredible.”