Amber Jo Rutter (née Hill, born 21 August 1997) is an English sport shooter who specialises in skeet. She has won a total of three gold medals in a major international competition, spanning the

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

series (2013 and 2015), and the inaugural

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

held in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan. She also finished with a silver medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in the women's skeet event. A member of the GB team, Hill trains with her personal coach Joe Neville at E.J. Churchill Shooting Ground in Wycombe. Since her withdrawal from the 2020 Olympics, she has been active in promoting mental health in sport.

Biography

Hill began shooting at the age of ten when she decided to go to the firing range in

Binfield Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies north-west of Bracknell, north-east of Wokingham, and south-east of Reading at the westernmost extremity of ...

with the encouragement of her grandfather, Bill Rogers. Since then, she has taken part in small shooting competitions across Berkshire, earning numerous age group titles and records for shotgun. By the age of twelve, Hill had been selected to England's senior women's team with a speciality in

skeet shooting Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity whose participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stations mechanically fling into the air at high speed and at a variety of angles. Skeet is one of the ...

. In 2013, Hill made shooting history by becoming the sport's youngest ever winner (aged 15) at the

series. She prevailed over Italy's Diana Bacosi in a shoot-off 15 clays to 11 to secure a gold medal and establish a junior world record at her very first career attempt. Because of her noteworthy success and talent in the sport, Hill finished the season as the top-ranked senior for Great Britain and the world ranked number five in the leaderboard. She had also been named the BBC's Young Sports Personality of the Year. At the

2015 European Games The 1st European Games (), also known as the 2015 European Games or Baku 2015 (), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Europe ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, Hill beat her Italian rival Bacosi in a lengthy, tense 30-clay shoot-off to claim the top spot on the podium in the women's skeet. By winning the gold on her senior international debut, Hill gained another Olympic quota place for Great Britain. A few months later she added another title to her career treasury at the World Cup Final in

Nicosia, Cyprus Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capita ...

, outclassing Thailand's

Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit Sutiya "Nee" Jiewchaloemmit (; born: May 3, 1986 in Tambon Khao Chakan, Prachinburi Province (currently: Khao Chakan District, Sa Kaeo Province) is a Thai sport shooter. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she placed fi ...

with a score of 15 to 13 hits. Amber Hill competed for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

's shooting squad in the women's skeet at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio de Janeiro. She was selected for England's Commonwealth Games squad bound for Australia in April 2018. Hill was selected for

's shooting squad in the women's skeet at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, but had to withdraw after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. In July 2022, Hill became the most successful Briton in ISSF World Cup events when she won the silver medal at the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

, South Korea. This was her 11th World Cup medal surpassing the 10 of

Richard Faulds Richard Bruce Faulds MBE (born 16 March 1977 in Guildford, Surrey), is a retired English sport shooter, who competed for Great Britain in the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the men's double trap. He also competed at the 1996, 2004, 2008 and 201 ...

. At the 2024 Olympics, she participated in the women's skeet event and finished in silver under controversial conditions. During the fourth round of a tiebreaking shoot-off with Francisca Crovetto, one of her shots was called a miss; however, upon slow motion review, replays showed that the shot hit the target.

Personal life

In February 2023, Hill married motocross racer James Rutter. In October 2023, Rutter announced she was expecting her first child, a son named Tommy, in April 2024. It was reported in March 2024 that she still intended to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris later in the year.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutter, Amber 1997 births Living people British female sport shooters Shooters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2015 European Games Skeet shooters Sportspeople from Windsor, Berkshire People educated at Claires Court School European Games gold medalists for Great Britain European Games medalists in shooting Olympic shooters for Great Britain Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in shooting Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Shooters at the 2019 European Games Shooters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2023 European Games European Games bronze medalists for Great Britain Shooters at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in shooting