Skeet shooter's mum says silver is 'icing on cake'

Amber Rutter won silver in the women's skeet shooting

The mother of women's skeet shooting Olympic silver medallist Amber Rutter said her success was the "icing on the cake", despite a controversial end to her gold medal bid.

The 26-year-old, from Bracknell, Berkshire, had finished in a tie of 55 shots out of 60 targets with Chile's Francisca Crovetto Chadid, with the pair going to a shoot-off.

They were still tied after three rounds but Rutter was called to have missed a shot, which slow motion replays appeared to show she hit.

Her mum Joanne Hill told the BBC her daughter's success "doesn't surprise us".

Adam and Joanne Hill said they were "very proud" of their daughter

Former world champion Rutter won her medal three months after giving birth to her first child, Tommy, on 25 April.

The skeet shooter only began training for the Olympics five weeks ago, having "not picked up a gun since February".

She had been forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after contracting Covid-19 on the eve of the games.

Amber Rutter gave birth to her first child, Tommy, in April

"Tokyo just destroyed her, and we didn't know whether she was even going to compete," said her mum.

"She decided to just change her life and just go around and just get married and have a baby a couple of months before, which we all thought was a bit mad," she added.

Of the controversy surrounding her daughter's silver medal, Mrs Hill said it was "a shame that it had to end like that".

She said: "But, at the end of the day, even if she'd had the targets again, we can't say that she would have got the gold.

"I think now we've just got to concentrate on her winning the silver medal, being out there, just having a baby, and just congratulate her on her achievement. It's the icing on the cake."

Rutter's mum said the family would be celebrating with a "barbeque and some champagne", followed by a larger party when her daughter returned from Paris.