Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith show off their silver medals after taking second place in thein mixed team skeet at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (X/USA Shooting)

CHATEAUROUX, France — Vincent Hancock hates the word legacy. And it’s not just because he’s not done yet.

Whenever the word comes up in conversation, his individual success — highlighted by four Olympic gold medals in the men’s individual event — is always at the forefront.

Yet the former Army sergeant thinks more of the impact he can have on others. He has mentored two Olympians who medaled in these Games — Conner Prince, who won silver in the men’s skeet, and Austen Smith, who took bronze in the women’s skeet on Sunday.

“Being able to teach others and then watch them grow and be themselves, that’s the legacy I want to leave behind,” Hancock said. “How can I impact people in a positive direction and do what they’ve done — and it’s not me accomplishing it, it’s all them — and then being able to grow my sport.”

That was demonstrated Monday with the addition of the skeet mixed team competition to the 2024 Paris Games. Hancock and Smith advanced to the gold medal match after the qualification rounds in the morning, before eventually falling against Italy’s Diana Bacosi and Gabriele Rossetti, 45-44, to come away with the silver.

The medal marked Hancock’s first non-golden variety in his Olympic history. The Eatonton, Ga., native could have joined the list of five shooters who’ve collected five gold medals — the last coming a century ago.

The 23-year-old Smith and Hancock entered Monday as reigning world champions, and they had won every final they’d been in together before the Italian duo — who both won gold medals in the individual skeet competition at the 2016 Rio Games — bested them.

“We won several matches before this, so our time was coming eventually,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, it just happened to be the Olympic Games. But we’re happy to walk away with the silver medal.”

The Italians never trailed after Smith missed her fourth shot in the final. And in the second-to-last position, the Americans trailed by two targets before Bacosi missed on her 19th shot to cut the deficit.

Hancock, who had been perfect the whole day, then produced his first error, though, and Bacosi and Rossetti hit seven of eight at the final position to seal the victory.

Hancock described his excitement at competing with his student, who credited the 35-year-old with turning her onto the sport 10 years ago, at the Olympic Games.

Hancock also praised Bacosi and Rossetti, who placed 15th and seventh in the individual events, respectively, for being better on the day.

“Honestly, this was the thing I was looking forward to the most,” Hancock said. “We accomplished our goal of making the gold-silver (match), and we put everything we had into that final. Unfortunately, they were just one target better today, and that’s just how it goes sometimes.”

United States skeet mixed team pair Austen Smith, left, and Army veteran Vincent Hancock walk to the next position during the first round of qualification on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Army veteran Vincent Hancock looks on as American teammate Austen Smith takes a sip of a drink during the first round of the skeet mixed team qualification on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

The event capped off the shooting events in Chateauroux.

USA Shooting began with a medal drought through the first six days before earning five medals over the last four days.

And the skeet program played a pivotal role in that turnaround. The Americans claimed four of the possible nine medals available across the three competitions.

Both Hancock and Smith mentioned how stacked the U.S. skeet scene is. So even though those two are on the top of the sport back home now, it’s not guaranteed that will be the case once Los Angeles rolls around in 2028.

Both also plan to take a break when they return from France — Hancock to recover mentally and physically and Smith to pursue her studies.

“I was saying this to several other people before we even got here that our women’s skeet team runs six people deep at least,” Smith said. “So, any of those women can come out here and win an Olympic medal, easily.”