Amber Rutter was handed a touching gift for her baby boy after winning Olympic silver on Sunday. Just over three months after giving birth to son, Rutter came through a tense six-athlete shoot-off to make the final, before finishing behind Chile’s Francesca Crovetto.
But the competition was not without controversy, with TV replays showing that one of Rutter’s shots in the closing stages, declared a miss by officials, had actually hit the target.
But Rutter, 26, refused to be downcast as she appeared on the BBC on Monday morning.
She even took Tommy into to the studio with her, the toddler sitting patiently as Rutter spoke with Jeanette Kwakye. And she then appeared touched when Kwayke handed her son a teddy of the Paris mascot Phryge.
“Listen I’m probably going to get in trouble for this but hey,” she said. “You can take that for free. I’ve just been told that’s coming out of my wages, well… anyway!”
Rutter was grateful for the gesture, as was Tommy who appeared to take an instant shine to his new toy. The mascots are currently being handed out to gold medal winners during ceremonies.
“I would bet a lot of money that I did hit that last target,” she said. “But this is a part of sport. It’s not just shooting, it’s not just myself.
“There are so many sports and athletes which are impacted. There were so many other athletes in that final which were appealing targets and there was nothing to look back on to review the shots.
“It’s something we have had in the past.”We’ve had VAR systems in place so we are able to have a fair field of play. But unfortunately at the Olympics this time we haven’t been able to have that.”
Former world champion Rutter, 26, still declared herself “delighted” with her result. She was forced to miss the Games in Tokyo three years ago after trsting positive for Covid-19.
Her participation in Paris appeared in doubt after she gave birth on April 25. However, she immediately declared her intention to still compete, and was surprised by her husband having been unaware her son was coming to France with him.
