The men's trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 23 and 24 July 1920 and 18 shooters from seven nations competed. The United States swept the podium (indeed, the five Americans took the top five places); it was the second sweep in the men's trap (France had done it in 1900). Mark Arie took the gold medal, the second consecutive victory by an American. Frank Troeh earned silver, while Frank Wright finished with bronze. Arie also received Lord Westbury's Cup, a challenge prize previously awarded in 1908 and 1912 to the winners of those years' men's trap competitions.
Background
This was the fourth appearance of what would become standardised as the men's ISSF Olympic trap event. The event was held at every Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1924 (except 1904, when no shooting events were held) and from 1952 to 2016; it was open to women from 1968 to 1996.
None of the top shooters from the pre-war 1912 Games returned. The American team included Mark Arie, "one of the most colorful and popular shooters in American history."
No nations made their debut in the event. Great Britain made its fourth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the event to that point.
Competition format
Shooter faced up to 100 clay pigeons over the course of four stages. The firing line was 15 metres away from the traps. Two shots were allowed per clay pigeon.
The first stage consisted of 35 targets. The top 50% of shooters advanced to the second stage. That stage had 35 targets again. The top 50% of shooters by combined score of the two stages advanced to the third stage (that is, 25% of the initial starters). The third stage had 20 targets. Each of the first three stages used a known-trap, unknown-angle format. The fourth stage had only 10 targets, with an unknown trap.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.
Schedule
Date Time Round Friday, 23 July 1920Saturday, 24 July 1920 9:30 First stageSecond stageThird stageFinal stage
Results
The maximum score was 100.
Rank Shooter Nation Score Mark Arie 95 Frank Troeh 93 Frank Wright 87 4 Frederick Plum 87 5 Horace Bonser 87 6 Robert Montgomery 86 7 Nordal Lunde 85 Henri Quersin 85 9 Albert Bosquet 84 Émile Dupont 84 11 William Hamilton 82 12 George Whitaker 79 — George Beattie 73 Samuel Vance 71 John Black 52 Enoch Jenkins unknown Veli Nieminen unknown Christiaan Moltzer unknown
References
External links Official Report