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| Birth name | Michael Constantine Diamánti (Diamond) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 May 1972 Sydney, New South Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Newcastle-Lake Macquarie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 4 October 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Constantine Diamond, OAM (born 20 May 1972) [1] is a professional target shooter from Australia.
Diamond was introduced to sport shooting at the age of eight by his father, Con, who was a sporting shooter and managed a gun club. [2]
Mastering the shotgun, Diamond succeeded in winning the Olympic gold medal for trap consecutively in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000, [3] becoming the second men's trap shooter to have done so. He held the world record in double trap, and held the final world record in trap between 2007 and 2008. Diamond is of Greek heritage. In 1997, he changed his surname from Diamantopoulos to Diamond.
Diamond won the trap event at the 2007 World Shotgun Championships. He was selected to compete in his sixth Olympic Games in London. [4] At the end of the qualification period, he was leading with an Olympic record of 125/125, but ended up finishing fourth overall, losing to Fehaid Aldeehani of Kuwait in a bronze Medal shoot-out.
Diamond was ruled ineligible for nomination for the 2016 Rio Olympic games by the Australian Olympic Committee as his firearms licence had been suspended on grounds that were later rejected in court. [5] [6]
| Event | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trap (mixed) | 11th 147+46 | Not held | ||||
| Trap (men) | Not held |  Gold 124+25 | Gold 122+25 | 8th 119 | 4th 119+23 | 4th 125+20 |
| Double trap (men) | Not held | — | 9th 135 | — | — | — |
Diamond was born in Goulburn, New South Wales. He is of Greek heritage. He married Cathy and together they had three daughters. [2]
In 2016, Diamond was charged with firearms offences and drink driving following an alleged domestic dispute involving his brother. [7] The charges resulted in the automatic suspension of his firearms licence under Australian law. Without a firearms licence, Diamond was ruled ineligible for nomination for the 2016 Rio Olympic games by the Australian Olympic Committee. [5] A court later quashed these convictions on appeal, questioning the legality of the police search and rejected claims by the prosecution that the firearms were not kept safe. [6] Nonetheless, police did not reinstate his firearms licence and therefore he has been unable to participate or compete in his sport ever since. [8]
Olympic champions in men's trap | |
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