BEIJING (Xinhua): American shooter Walton Eller broke two Olympic records on his way to winning the men's double trap gold at the Beijing Shooting Range on Tuesday.

Eller notched up a winning total of 190 hits, one more than the previous record, to earn the U.S. seventh gold at the Beijing Games.

The silver medal went to Italian Francesco D Aniello, who trailed by three hits, and Chinese two-time Olympian Hu Binyuan added a bronze to the host country's medal spree with 184 hits.

Eller, born in 1982, led the qualification round with 145 hits, four more than the old Olympic record, whereas D Aniello secured second with 141 hits and Hu fourth with 138 hits. Another American, Jeffrey Holguin was third with 140 hit.

At the beginning of the final, Eller missed both targets, which gave his rivals some hope. Holguin did no better than Eller by letting go of one bird, and when the second pair of target flew out, Holguin missed one.

His mistake was repeated on the third pair, which drove him to the same line with Hu. The latter grasped this chance when he managed to down all the orange plates and, after the ninth pair, surged to joint second with D Aniello.

But Eller, who retrieved his sharpness, still took a distant lead then.

Hu's first mistake came at the 12th pair, when he saw the second bird churned away. But Eller also made two lapses.

After the 14th pair, Eller, D Aniello and Hu were ranked top three with their gaps as three and one hits respectively.

Although the Chinese shooter, who has two World Cup Final silver and two World Championships silver, missed three other targets in the following pairs, this ranking stood until the end of the competition. Holguin finished fourth with 182 hits.

"I ended up fourth, but actually I was aiming to get a gold," said a disappointed Holguin.

Talking about the three consecutive missed targets in the final, he explained, "I really didn't know where I was then, it's difficult to correct them afterwards unless you know where you went wrong." Hu, a Shanghai native, said he was generally satisfied with his performance.

"I am happy to realize my Olympic medal dream in my own country," he said.

Each time Hu made a good shot, the spectators cheered and applauded him.

"They encouraged me a lot," said Hu.

When asked why he wore the same suit as he had in Athens, Hu said it could remind him of the competition four years ago and spur him to work hard.

In fact, Hu had imposed great pressure on D Aniello, also a gold medalist at the 2007 World Championships.

"The worst moment (in the final) was when the Chinese levelled with me, but luckily I was able to break away," said the Italian sharpshooter.

A police officer, he said the silver medal was dedicated to his son. "He's four years old. Before I left he asked me to compete, win, and bring home a medal. I'm training a lot and I don't get to see my family much," added the father emotionally.

For Eller, the gold medal marks a breakthrough.

He travelled to the 2000 Olympic Games as the youngest member of the U.S. shooting team. However, his dream was shattered as food poisoning forced him to stay in bed for two days. Although he recovered in time to compete, but failed to get any medal.

In 2004, when the business major from the University of Houston who was loaded with hope embarked on his second Olympic journey, he only finished 17th in double trap.

Then the man joined the army and progressed quickly.

"When he was alone, he trained really hard but he has no one to compare with," said his coach Lloyd Woodhouse, who believed that by practicing together with others, he could find out his shortcomings and improve.

"It was an incredible experience," Eller said. When he was competing, a group photo of his fellows, including Holguin, was in his pocket.

"Now that I came, I won, my task was fulfilled," he said. Athens champion Ahmed Almaktoum from the United Arab Emirates, who held the previous Olympic record, failed to enter the final. Although he shared the same score with the sixth finalist, he was eliminated in the lengthy shoot-off.