Alessandra Perilli was 24 years old at the time of the 2012 Summer Games and was making her début at the Olympics. She qualified for the women's trap contest by earning a quota spot through a victory in the 2011 ISSF World Cup in March that year. On 4 August Perilli competed in the qualification round of her event. She finished fifth out of 22nd athletes with a score of 71 points and qualified for the final held the same day due to her result. At the end of the final, Perilli was tied for second place with France's Delphine Réau and Zuzana Štefečeková of Slovakia with 93 points out of a possible 100. She then participated in a three-way shoot-out to determine the winners of the bronze and silver medals Perilli ended up finishing fourth overall and this stopped her from claiming San Marino's maiden medal at the Olympic Games but achieved the nation's best ever result at the Games. Despite the result, she spoke of her satisfaction with the effort she put in and dedicated the performance to her entourage and declared the fourth place result "a medal".