By sportswriter Bai Xu

    BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Satu Makela-Nummela, a shooter fromFinland, won the Olympic gold medal of women's trap with 91 hits atthe Beijing Shooting Range on Tuesday.

    Topping the qualification tally with 70 hits, the 38-year-old led over world record holder Zuzana Stefecekova from Slovakia at the beginning. But the latter missed the third, the seventh and theninth targets and plunged to the second.

    Despite some misses, Makela-Nummela maintained her advantage to the end.

    "I didn't believe I would win today. It is amazing," she said, "at this time it's difficult to find the words."

    Although it was a difficult competition, the mother of two admitted that she "didn't have complete concentration in the final"and was "already thinking of home issues."

    Earlier in the morning, his fellow countryman Henri Hakkinen wona bronze medal at men's 10-meter air rifle.

    "It was an incredible day for Finland shooting," said the delighted champion.

    Stefecekova finished with 89 hits, seven less than her record but enough to lift her to the silver podium.

    Before the Olympic Games, she won a silver medal at the EuropeanChampionships, which she said was "good for hopes".

    Talking about competition, she said, "the final wasn't the best but I am very happy to get the silver medal. It's my dream."

    Competition for the bronze was to make less mistakes.

    Maybe the most noticeable was Japanese Yukie Nakayama. With 67 points from the qualification, two less than the other three finalists, she managed to catch up and finish in a draw with them.

    It was a rare shoot-off to see four players compete.

    Daina Gudzineviciute from Lithuania and Elena Struchaeva from Kazakstan missed the first bird one after another.

    Then, Nakayama failed to hold her nerves and leaving the plate fly away.

    It was American shooter Corey Cogdell's turn.

    When the bronze medalist from the 2007 Changwon World Cup stepped forward, all eyes were fixed on her.

    She raised her gun, aimed for a while, and fired. The target broke with pink smoke. The bronze medalist was decided. Her score was 86 hits.

    In retrospect, Cogdell said she had been under great pressure in the shoot-off, especially seeing the previous three shooters all missed targets.

    "I was trying to stay calm and ask God for much-needed strength because that was really hard," she said.

    The bronze medal was obviously an unexpected gift for the 22-year-old girl, who was the youngest among six finalists.

    "It's a dream that comes true," she beamed, "I didn't expect to do his well. I wasn't even supposed to get on the Olympic team. My goal was 2012."

    Nakayama, who finished fourth, hugged her coach and cried after the final.

    "I am excited about the result," she said. "I was the last for the final and I thought there would be no chance. But I wouldn't let it go like this so I tried my best."

    The girl said she wouldn't finish shooting without any success. "I think my family will give me power to continue."