USA shooting legend Kimberly Rhode made sporting history on Friday (12 August).

With her bronze medal in the skeet, Rhode became the first woman ever to win a medal in six consecutive Olympic Games.

"I'm gonna go again," the 37-year-old said after the historic achievement. "I'm gonna try for a seventh, this hopefully will not be my last.

"I never dreamed I would be going to six Olympics. I’m just blown away myself. Six for six, who would’ve thought? So many firsts. Literally I am completely humbled by the whole experience."

Rhode joins Italian luger Armin Zoeggeler as the only athletes to earn medals in six straight Olympic Games. Her six medals are most all-time for a female shooter. She is one of five athletes to earn a medal in six different Games.

The six-time Olympian first competed at Atlanta 1996 as a 17-year-old and now has three gold medals, one silver and two bronze.

Challenging conditions

In the first two places, the Rio 2016 skeet event was dominated by two Italians who led almost start to finish in the finals.In the end, Diana Bacosi won gold ahead of compatriot Chiara Cainero. 

Rhode said that the event was difficult, with a challenging background because of the clouds and the lighting.

Her bronze came on the fifth continent on which she has won an Olympic medal. She defeated Meng Wei of China 7-6 in a shoot-off in the bronze-medal match after both women earlier hit 15 of 16 targets.

"Every emotion hits you at once," she said after her victory, "You want to run, scream, cry and you just don't know which one to do first. It doesn't matter if it's the gold, silver or the bronze. It's the journey and my journey this time was very, very challenging and as you can tell, very emotional. I'm still emotional."

"Hopefully this will not be my last. I said before (the competition) win, lose or draw, I’d be coming back again, so hopefully I’ll see everybody in Tokyo.”