Vella aiming high

Australian shooter Adam Vella had just shot a perfect 25 for 25 in a training session alongside his team-mate Michael Diamond as he marched off the range with his rifle slung over his shoulder and a wide smile on his face.

"I'll take it," Vella, of Maltese descent, said of his flawless trap shooting, with only a huge grin belying the understatement.

Vella, 33, is gunning for an Olympic gold medal in the trap event in which the celebrated Diamond has won gold for Australia at the last two Games. He said the tense rivalry between him and Diamond was not destructive but was making them both better.

"We pull each other up," said Vella, who puts his Melbourne plumbing business on hold for three months a year. "We pull each other along. We're both trying hard to put our best round in."