The American shooter reached the gold medal contest at the Tiro a Volo San Marino Shooting Range after battling China’s Pan Qiang in a semi-final shoot-off.

Both men had missed only two of the targets throughout the penultimate stage of the competition but were left fighting for one remaining place in the final after Germany’s Andreas Loew produced an immaculate round.

Richmond then held off the challenge of his Chinese rival to progress to the gold medal contest.

The competitors had to cope with a one hour rain delay, but the standard refused to dip as Richmond shot with precision to earn a 29-28 win over Loew to top the podium.

“It was another great day in San Marino for me, I shot here in 2009 and got a bronze medal,” said Richmond.

“I came here trying to stay consistent throughout the day.

“The weather conditions affected the targets, and the light was changing back and forth, but I stayed focused, hitting one target after the other until the end."

Richmond added: “I will be going to the next ISSF World Cup in Baku [between June 20 and 29], and then I will return back home to train with the rest of the team with the focus now on August 10, when we will compete in Rio.”

After narrowly missing out on reaching the final, Pan clinched bronze by overcoming Australia’s James Willett 29-28 in the bronze medal contest.

Willet’s fine performance nevertheless confirmed his excellent form ahead of the Olympic Games, with the world number one having won the Rio 2016 test event earlier this year.

Official and pre-event training for skeet shooters is due to be held for the next two-days in San Marino, with the women’s event due to be the next final contested on Thursday (June 9).