Georgios Achilleos

Despite his efforts in Day 2 where he recorded two sets of 24/25, Achilleos finished in 23rd place with 119/125.

After shooting 24, 24 and then 25, Achilleos closed day 1 tied in 8th place with 73/75.

Day 2 started with a 23/25 could seriously affect his hopes for the final.

Achilleos recorded 24/25 in the final, which kept him in 5th position with a total of 143, just one disc shy of the bronze medal shoot off.

Nikolaides also had 24/25 in the final, but went on to lose the medal shoot-off against Anthony Terras of France, settling for a 4th position.

He closed the day with a perfect 25/25 to finish up in 9th place, just one disc away from the shoot-off.

He started with a perfect 25/25 and closed the day with 24/25, which put him on 5th position (119/125).

Fellow Cypriot Antonis Nikolaides also finished the qualification round in the top 6, with a score of 120/125, giving Cyprus its first ever double Olympic final participation in any event.

In what was expected to be an historic day for Cyprus, turned out to become one of Cyprus most painful.

Georgios Achilleos (Γεώργιος Αχιλλέως; born December 24, 1980) is a Cypriot sports shooter and past World titlist and World No. 1 in Skeet.

Achilleos was born in London, United Kingdom in 1980.

His parents originate from the town of Paphos on the west coast of Cyprus.

He started competing in Skeet Shooting in a young age and recorded his first success in the Junior level.

His international debut was at the 1997 European Championships in Sipoo, Finland where he took 9th place.

His first major medal (silver) came at the 1998 European Championships, held in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Achilleos competed in the 1998 World Championship in Barcelona, Spain taking 10th place.

The 1999 season was a breakthrough year for Achilleos.

He placed 31st in Kumamoto and European Championship (35th at Poussan. He won gold in the Junior's event at the 1999 World Championship in Tampere, Finland. His last major Junior distinction came in 2000 (after he already started regularly competing as a Senior), when he equaled the Junior World Record at the 2000 Lonato World Cup with 123+24, and took away a bronze medal. Achilleos automatically qualified for the 2000 Sidney Summer Olympics at the age of 19.

He has represented the island in the 2000 Summer Olympics ranking 23rd, 2004 Summer Olympics ranking 9th, 2008 Summer Olympics ranking 5th and 2012 Summer Olympics where he finished in 11th place.

Just a few months before turning 20, George Achilleos was named a member of Team Cyprus at the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in Sydney.

The young Cypriot started the event with the best possible way, shooting 25/25 and 24/25 at the two starting rounds, but then went on to close Day 1 on September 22 with a low 22/25.

He was the national flag bearer at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.

Achilleos has the existing distinction of being the inaugural Cypriot athlete to set a World Record in an Olympic Sport.

His inaugural World Record was in 2005 in Dubai where he scored 124+24.

He is a four-time Skeet Shooting medalist in the World Championships, and a four-time Olympian, with his 5th position in Beijing 2008 being to date (as of 2017) Cyprus’ third-best all time placing at the Olympics, after Pavlos Kontides’ silver medal in Laser sailing in London 2012 and Antonis Nikolaidis’ 4th place in Skeet Shooting in Beijing 2008.

Achilleos went into the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China as the favorite for the gold medal, since he was world No1 in ISSF's rankings and the reigning World Champion.

Due to his international successes, Achilleos was chosen for a second consecutive Olympiad to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony, this time in the Bird's Nest of the Chinese capital.

A week later (August 15 and 16) the skeet event was set to take place and all Cypriot eyes were on the Beijing Shooting Range.

Then President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Demetris Christofias and former President Tassos Papadopoulos were also in attendance, hoping to witness Cyprus’ first ever Olympic medal.

Day 1 started bad for Achilleos, who shot 23, 24 and 23 for a total of 70/75.

But with only nine shooters having better ranking after day 1, including four athletes with 71/75, the road to the final was still open.

And George didn't disappoint on day 2.

Ten shooters tied at 122/125 for the remaining three spots in the final, amongst them fellow Cypriot Antonakis Andreou, who went on to take 8th place.

Four years later, a now experienced Achilleos went to the Greek capital as one of the best young shooters in Skeet.

He was the national flag barer at the Opening Ceremony at the OAKA stadium.

The Cypriot delegation received a standing ovation by the mostly Greek crowd, due to the islands’ ties to Greece.

George then set his eyes on the skeet event, which was held at the Markopoulo Shooting Centre on 21 and 22 August.

He is the current WR holder after shooting 125/125 at the 2015 Larnaca ISSF World Cup.

His debut World Cup in the Men's category ended in 16th place in Lima.

The 4th and 5th position by Nikolaides and Achilleos respectively is to date (as of 2017) Cyprus’ second and third best placing in the Olympics, following the silver medal of sailor Pavlos Kontides in London four years later.