Vincent Hancock became part of a magnificent seven at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games when he won his fourth gold medal in the men’s skeet.
He, and his compatriot Katie Ledecky, joined the exclusive club, with the American swimmer winning the women’s 800m freestyle title for a fourth time too.
Five-time wrestling champion Mijain Lopez from Cuba, Danish sailor Paul Elvstrom, American discus thrower Al Oerter, American athletics great Carl Lewis and the most-decorated Olympian ever, Michael Phelps, have all won an individual event four times or more and sit amongst some of the greatest athletes to grace the earth.
It is no exaggeration that Hancock rightly deserves the title of ‘legend’. While the future looks bright for China and the Republic of Korea’s national teams through their young Olympic champions, the American was equally as impressive as a teenager.
Born in Port Charlotte, Florida, Hancock was already a sensation at the age of 16, winning the first of four world titles back in 2005, beating Atlanta 1996 Olympic champion Ennio Falco to the title. It was the arrival of a star.
By the time he was 20, he was already a two-time world champion, as well as a bronze medallist. He also claimed the first of his four Olympic titles in Beijing when he was just 19.
Consistency was key for the now-35-year-old, who has mostly excelled when it has mattered the most. Hancock has finished in the top 10 at the ISSF World Championships nine times from his 10 appearances, making the final on seven occasions and collecting six medals in total. That one below-par performance nearly led to him quitting the sport in 2011 after placing 67th at the World Championships. Instead, his wife Rebekah urged him to pray when he arrived home. Maybe divine intervention kept him in the sport.
Without that faith in himself and his God, that impressive Olympic record may never have came. You only get one shot every four years and the American has delivered nearly every time. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect record came at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He finished 15th in the men’s skeet qualification, two shots off making the final.
After this, he would take a 17-month break from international competition, choosing to miss the 2017 season and on his return was focused on “having fun” first and foremost. Since then, he has been near-perfect. He was undefeated in 2018 and as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, he emerged from Tokyo as a three-time skeet Olympic champion.
In the build-up to Paris, Hancock scored a maximum score of 125 in qualification three times in 2023 and has done so seven times since the skeet format changed in 2013. Two athletes have also matched the world record twice, but never more. The American truly is in a league of his own.
Even before winning a historic fourth title, Hancock had an eye on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. There, he expects to retire from the sport and he will be hoping to go out on a high with a fifth Olympic title in a single event. The only athlete to do that in their career is Mijain Lopez, who left his boots on the wrestling mat in Paris, signalling his retirement after a legendary career.
This time, it seems Hancock’s career will be called time on after his home Olympics. While he has hinted at retirement before, it seems like a decision he is ready to make after the next Olympic cycle. He hopes to keep making an impact in the sport by opening shooting ranges across the United States.
“To provide others with the ability to come out and do the sport that I love, that’s kind of where my career has been transitioning to,” he said.
“How can I make a bigger impact than just being an athlete and just going out and trying to win medals?”
Never satisfied with being an icon on the range, he hopes to deliver that greater impact to his beloved sport after he has fired his final bullet. Vincent Hancock is fuelled by ambition, but maybe soon we will see that shown in a different manner.