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Beijing Olympic Games 2008

  • 24-07-2008 5:55pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Media coverage is starting to show up for shooting sports now rather rapidly as we move into the last two weeks before the games. Three from RTE today:

    http://www.rte.ie/sport/2008/0724/shooting.html
    Incredible Wang targets Olympic glory
    Thursday, 24 July 2008 17:25

    Inspiration-seeking Chinese shooters need look no further than their coach Wang Yifu as they aim to convert their Asian supremacy into a deluge of Olympic gold medals.

    Wang, 48, is a sporting legend in China, not only as the country's most experienced Olympian with six successive appearances between 1984 and 2004 but also for his amazing accomplishments.

    He won two Olympic golds, three silvers and one bronze over the years, but none was more dramatic than his second-placed finish in the 10m Air Pistol final at Atlanta in 1996.

    Preparing for his last shot, Wang suddenly found his blood sugar levels dip and his legs began to wobble, but he still managed to fire before collapsing to the floor unconscious.

    When he came around a few minutes later watched by his anxious wife Zhang Qiuping, a fellow shooter, Wang was told he had finished just 0.1 point behind eventual gold medallist Roberto di Donna of Italy.

    Wang, whose two Olympic golds came 12 years apart in Barcelona in 1992 and Athens in 2004, now returns as head coach of the Chinese squad expected to dominate at the Beijing Shooting Hall.

    It was his enthusiasm for the sport, rather than any thoughts of nearing Austrian sailer Hurbert Raudaschl's record of nine Olympic appearances, that Wang briefly toyed with the idea of gunning for another gold in Beijing.

    'I would have liked to compete as an athlete because it is a rare chance to take part in an Olympics held in one's motherland,' the Chinese media quoted Wang as saying.

    'But I have to keep the big picture in mind. Training members of the Chinese team to become Olympic champions would be a greater honour for me than earning anothergold for myself.'

    China has an emotional bond with the sport for it was shooting that gave the country its first-ever Olympic gold medal when Xu Haifeng won the 50m pistol event at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

    Wang won the bronze in the same event, but China was unable to live up to its ambition to dominate the sport at the Olympic level despite being unchallenged in Asia.

    China won 27 of the 44 shooting golds at the last Asian Games in Doha two years ago, but managed just four titles in 17 events at Athens as rivals from Germany, Russia, the United States and Australia held their own.

    All that could change in Beijing with Wang's wards expected to garner a majority of titles in a sport where there are no favourites and a micro-second lapse in concentration can send a shooter packing.

    Officials have dropped the men's 10m running target and women's double trap from the schedule, leaving just 15 events to be contested in Beijing.

    The Chinese warmed up by winning six of the 15 golds on offer at the 'Good Luck Beijing' World Cup on the Olympic ranges in April, followed by France with three golds and Russia with two.

    Australia, Slovak Republic, Serbia and the Czech Republic shared the remaining four titles.

    'I expect China to do very well but you can't predict anything in shooting,' said veteran Indian coach Sunny Thomas. 'Everyone who has qualified for Beijing has a realistic chance of winning.'

    Thomas leads a nine-member Indian team that includes the country's first-ever Olympic individual silver medallist, Rajyavardhan Rathore, a double trap shooter.

    Australian trap shooter Michael Diamond takes part in his fifth Olympics, hoping to emulate his gold medal winning feats at Atlanta and at home in Sydney.

    Diamond failed to win a third successive gold at Athens, mainly due to a miserable build-up after being charged of assaulting his girlfriend in 2003 and police revoked his shooting licence and confiscated his shot guns.

    Diamond was found not guilty, but not quickly enough to give the champion shooter adequate time to prepare for the Olympics.

    The Australian, 36, said he was ready to battle in Beijing.
    'I have regained that fire,' he said. 'There is no use-by date which is the beauty of our sport. I love it. There is no way I will be hanging the gun up in the near future.'

    The image on that page is funny - the shooter's not Chinese, he's Irish; he's shooting 50m smallbore rifle, not 10m air pistol; and it's the Irish Nationals from last year, not an international event. Still though, grins aside, good to see the coverage.

    http://www.rte.ie/sport/2008/0724/shooting1.html
    India's world champion fails to bag wildcard
    Thursday, 24 July 2008 18:01

    India's double-trap world record holder Ronjon Sodhi will not be able to take part in the Beijing Olympics after failing to bag a wildcard, a top official said Thursday.

    'It is really unfortunate,' Baljeet Sethi, secretary of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), told AFP.

    'Sodhi is in top form and he could have brought us a medal from the Beijing Olympics.'

    Sodhi, 28, did not make the nine-member Indian team as the double-trap berth went to Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore.

    Sodhi however shot into Olympic contention when he won the World Cup in Belgrade last month with a world record-equalling final score of 194 out of 200.

    Ranked number five in the world, Sodhi was banking on a 'hardship' quota that is awarded to an individual who fails to qualify but gives an outstanding performance in any of the official events.

    'I had a chat with the international federation officials last night and they said they had no quota left in the double-trap,' Sethi said.

    'Sodhi deserved to be at the Olympics but this was not to be. We can only pray now that Rathore is able to win a medal.'

    Sodhi caught international attention when he upset a top-class field in Belgrade with his record-equalling score set by Italian Daniele Di Spigno at the 1999 world championships.

    The bearded Sikh, coached by Olympic gold-medallist Mark Russell of Australia, matched the previous qualification record held jointly by Richard Faulds of Britain and Michael Diamond of Australia.

    Both Faulds and Diamond are the top medal contenders in Beijing along with Di Spigno.

    Damn shame. Same thing happened to Dave Malone last time and Philip Murphy this time :(

    http://www.rte.ie/sport//2008/0722/sheikhahmed.html
    Shooting champion angry with UAE sports leaders
    Tuesday, 22 July 2008 14:05

    The United Arab Emirates' only Olympic medallist has taken a shot at the country's sports bosses for wasting the legacy of his gold at the Athens Games.

    Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, the double trap gold medallist in 2004, is furious at the country's shooting federation for doing nothing to help the UAE's marksmen to become future champions.

    'After seven long years of hard work, I brought glory to my country in Athens and then they just threw the medal away,' said Sheikh Ahmed, who has come out of retirement in a bid to retain his title at next month's Beijing Olympics.

    'I thought (after Athens) life would change, the sport would change and people in charge would look at things in a more professional manner. Nothing like this has happened,' he told the Gulf News.

    Sheikh Ahmed, a member of Dubai's ruling family, will take part in his first international competition since his Athens triumph when he takes aim in Beijing.

    He said the UAE had pumped far too much money into soccer, with little success, and feared his country would struggle for shooting success in China.

    'I seriously think the country needs to wake up,' he added.

    'We are best suited for individual sports. How much glory has the football team brought to this country?'

    The 45-year-old said he had done his best to help other shooters but his pleas for support had fallen on deaf ears.

    'I shouted, I screamed and people did not like it,' he said. 'I am complaining because I love my country, and yet nothing is being done to improve anything.'

    Seems problems with the NGBs are a universal problem.

    The photo on that page is of Derek Burnett, and it's correctly captioned as well:
    00019b5e10dr.jpg
    Ireland's Derek Burnett will be competing against the defending champion

    There's even a bit on Modern Pentathlon (run in Ireland by the MPAI):
    http://www.rte.ie/sport/2008/0724/modernpentathlon.html
    Modern pentathlon huge contrast to single sports
    Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:50

    The modern pentathlon may not have a high profile between Games but this complete and complex sport created by movement founder Pierre de Coubertin contrasts sharply with individual sporting events.

    De Coubertin's brainchild - athletes compete in shooting, fencing, swimming, showjumping and running - was to find the ultimate, all-round competitor.

    Running and swimming need physical skills. Mentally, shooting tests one's coolness under pressure and an exacting technique.

    Fencing requires intelligence in strategy and both physical and mental agility, while the showjumping, on a horse ridden for the first time, requires courage and horsemanship.

    The 36 men and women compete in Beijing on August 21 and 22, doing all five events in one day. The shooting and fencing is at the National Conference Centre, the swimming at the Yingtung Natatorium, with the showjumping and then running at the National Olympic Sports Centre.

    The sport is well known for a scandal in Montreal in 1976 when Soviet Boris Onishchenko was correctly accused of cheating by British captain Jim Fox, who claimed that Onishchenko's epee was registering touches when it hadn't hit anything. He had ingeniously created a switch which when pressed showed a hit on the scoring box.

    The athlete himself and the Soviet team were disqualified, paving the way for Britain to take team gold. Humorously, Onishchenko was dubbed in the British press as 'Disonischenko.'

    So who's going to win this summer? The 2008 world championships from May 27 to June 1 in Budapest showed current form with France's Amelie Caze retaining her title ahead of Egypt's Aya Medany and Katie Livingston of Great Britain.

    In the men's section, Russia's Ilya Frolov took gold, ahead of David Svoboda of the Czech Republic and Belarussian Igor Lapo, indicating the traditional eastern European domination in the men is set to continue in Beijing.

    What exactly do the pentathletes do in their five sports?. For shooting, they have 20 shots from 10 metres with a pistol at a 155mm diameter target.

    In fencing they have a one-minute bout with every other competitor in the epee event, meaning hitting any part of the body counts. The swimming is over 200m, or four laps of a big pool, in heats depending on previous results.

    The showjumping is a 400m course with 12 obstacles including a double and a triple jump however the tough bit is that the pentathletes have never before ridden the horses, selected by lottery.

    The final 3,000m run is staggered with the leader starting first - a three-point lead is a three-second advantage - meaning the first to cross the finishing line is the winner.


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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 34 Valter


    Keep it comming Sparks:-)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    Sparks wrote: »
    http://www.rte.ie/sport//2008/0722/sheikhahmed.html


    Seems problems with the NGBs are a universal problem.

    The photo on that page is of Derek Burnett, and it's correctly captioned as well:

    Except Derek doesn't shoot double trap, so he won't be competing against the irate Sheikh ;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Yes, but Derek will be shooting against Michael Diamond, the defending trap champion ;)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    Sparks wrote: »
    Yes, but Derek will be shooting against Michael Diamond, the defending trap champion ;)

    Except Michael Diamond isn't the defending trap champion, as he didn't win in Athens. Alexei Alipov is the current champion. Diamond came joint 9th with Derek in Athens.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Ach! I'm mixing up Sydney and Athens. Well, easy enough to do, they look so similar and what's a few thousand miles between friends? :D:o

    Still though, isn't Alipov competing in Beijing?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    Sparks wrote: »
    Ach! I'm mixing up Sydney and Athens. Well, easy enough to do, they look so similar and what's a few thousand miles between friends? :D:o

    Still though, isn't Alipov competing in Beijing?

    Yes he is. Got his quota place in 2005. Norhing like getting in early to beat the rush. :D

    My initial comment was aimed at RTE's fabled accuracy in reporting. :eek:


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Firstly, best headline ever for the first article.

    Second, anyone know where I might find coverage of the shooting events?


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Unfortunately it's rare to see shooting on the main TV networks IWM, and ISSF.TV doesn't have rights to the olympic footage (the IOC is rather protective of it's rights which went for $1.7 billion in Athens and $2.5 billion this time round). I've heard some of the networks are going to stream coverage, and if they do that, we might get access to everything. Streaming was the one thing they should have done for Sydney and Athens and didn't :(
    The shotgun folks should get serious coverage this time though - the way the match runs over two days was seriously useful last time because Derek was in first on the evening of the first day and made every paper on full-page spreads the next morning, even the Times.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Cheers Sparks, would be good to see.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    I presume it would be too much to hope for links on the official website to each sport's coverage on TV?

    Probably :(


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  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Well, the TV coverage would be per-country (and even per-state/county in some cases), so that'd actually be a *lot* of information to put up there. But it could be done for the ICPSA or NTSA easily enough since we only have a few channels :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Rapid-fire pistol shows up today:
    Schumann targets fourth gold
    Friday, 25 July 2008 16:01

    German Ralf Schumann's attempt to win a fourth gold medal in the rapid-fire pistol will be the highlight of an Olympic shooting tournament likely to be dominated by the Chinese.

    Schumann broke his world record in the World Cup in May to show his rivals that, at 46, he remains at the peak of his powers.

    Russians Sergei Polyakov, who took silver in 2004, and bronze medallist Sergei Alifrenko were well off the pace while Schumann's compatriot Christian Reitz finished second.

    Another German, Sonja Pfeilschilter, won the 10-metre air rifle and 50-metre three positions rifle titles at the World Cup and is fancied to capture her first Olympic medal in Beijing next month to add to her four world crowns.

    Chinese shooters took four golds in Athens four years ago and their mixture of experience and youth looks likely to improve this tally, especially in the pistol events. They won six of the seven pistol golds on offer at the 2006 world championships.

    Jia Zhanbo, the 2004 gold medallist, won the men's 50 metre rifle three positions title in Munich while 23-year-old Guo Wenjun won the 25-metre pistol and 10-metre air pistol.

    Australia's Michael Diamond is strong favourite to win a third gold in the trap after equalling his own world record in May.

    If Sonja does actually pick up a medal this time, it'll be well overdue to be honest.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    Sparks wrote: »
    Rapid-fire pistol shows up today:


    Christian Reitz beat Schumann in Milan and broke the record that Schumann set in Munich. He's more than a minor challenge methinks.

    Edit: Just checked the details on that. Schumann set a record of 790 in Munich and Reitz broke it in Milan 9 days later with a 794. Schumann came second with 789.7.

    Reitz came second in Munich with 786.4, so he hasn't come from nowhere, though he is only 21 AFAIR.

    The competition in Milan was incredibly tense. Schumann led the first qualifying round by a point but finished a point behind Reitz going into the final.

    In the final Schumann led after three shots by 0.7 points and was still leading after 6 shots by 0.2 but slipped in the next three to be 0.8 behind Reitz when disaster struck with his tenth shot and he got a 7.9. After that he was never going to recover the lead and didn't :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 498 ✭✭bigred


    rrpc wrote: »
    Christian Reitz beat Schumann in Milan and broke the record that Schumann set in Munich. He's more than a minor challenge methinks.

    Has he got the big match experience not to fold at the olympics? I wouldn't be too sure about it. Amazing what he pulled off beating Schumann on his second time out


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    bigred wrote: »
    Has he got the big match experience not to fold at the olympics? I wouldn't be too sure about it. Amazing what he pulled off beating Schumann on his second time out

    He's been around a while bigred, I think his first outing in RF pistol was in 2003 or 2004 and he shoots Air Pistol, Standard Pistol and 25m Pistol as well, though I think it's RF pistol he does mostly.

    It's hard to see Schumann being beaten though, especially as he normally just monsters finals. That's what really surprised me about Milan, because to beat Schumann you normally have to be about five ahead going into the final and even that's not a guarantee :pac:


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    I've temporarily stickied this thread for the duration, rather than see a million and one threads during the next month with the Beijing games...

    Now, from the ICPSA website today:
    Warm welcome for Irish Olympians in Singapore
    28 July, 2008
    thumbnail.php?file=2008_Singapore_Olympic_Camp_192_627226176.jpg&size=article_medium
    Oakley present Derek Burnett with new range of shooting glasses

    The first stage of the final preparations of Ireland’s Derek Burnetts' Beijing campaign began with a weeklong holding camp in the tropical environment of Singapore. With weather conditions and heat/humidity levels matching that of Beijing and the sharing of the same time zone, this location made for an excellent choice for acclimatising ahead of the games.

    We are most grateful for the considerable help from the Singapore Shooting Federation and in particular Wilson Han who ensured that the myriad of paperwork required for the import and export of the firearms and ammunition necessary for the camp and subsequently shipped onwards to Beijing went smoothly and efficiently.

    The island has become a prime location for pre-Olympic holding camps as was witnessed by the Ireland contingent being joined this week by the Qatar Skeet team with in total over five nations basing themselves here for their final preparations ahead of the August games.

    A key feature of this camp is acclimatisation to the weather and adjustment to the time zone as this takes over one week for effective assimilation and by the time the contingent check into the Olympic Village on Wednesday next that process will have been completed and should allow Derek the opportunity to concentrate solely on his performance.
    files.php?file=2008_Singapore_Olympic_Camp_197_883828230.jpg
    (L-R Joey Ng Oakley Singapore, Derek Burnett, Peter Terry, Lynn Ng and Wung Yew Lee)

    Singapore's leading Trap shooter and prominent Olympian Wung Yew Lee ensured that the Irish contingent were warmly welcomed and facilitated at the Singapore National Shooting Centre and while our stay is Singapore is short we have managed to have daily access to the Olympic Trap ranges in the company of Wung Yew.

    Wung Yew is quite a celebrity in the sporting circles of Singapore and during our visit he introduced the team to the local Oakley glasses distributor for whom he is one of their sponsored athletes.

    Following introductions, Derek was presented with a top of the range set of Oakley Radar Shooting glasses as a mark of his participation in the Olympics by Joey Ng of Oakley Singapore.

    In addition to this the Irish support team of Professor Peter Terry and the ICPSA High Performance Programme and Olympic Team Manager Kevin Kilty were also presented with sunglasses to complete an unexpected surprise.

    Tomorrow sees the last day of training before an early departure to Beijing and our entry into the Olympic Village.

    Reporting restrictions will limit the amount of information that can be conveyed from the village but keep tuned to www.icpsa.ie for the latest news updates.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    RTE's Sports department tried some "alternative" photos of the Olympic Squad this year. Derek Burnetts one is worth a grin or two:

    00019e4112cry.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    From RTE's website:
    New Zealand shooter preparing for pollution

    While New Zealand's 183 Olympic athletes are getting masks to combat Beijing's feared pollution, trap shooter Graeme Ede is taking special measures against the haze.

    For a sport which requires exceptional eyesight, he has been deliberately training in poor visibility to prepare himself for expected hazy conditions.

    During a World Cup event at the Beijing Shooting Range in April, Ede found the clay targets increasingly harder to see as they whizzed up to 75 metres into the distance.

    'They look a bit murky when they get out a bit,' he said.

    'They were disappearing a little bit on the first three days but then it rained overnight and cleared the air a bit.'

    Ede, the Commonwealth Games champion, said concerns about poor visibility had forced him to adopt an unconventional training method.

    'Training in poor light conditions has probably helped me,' he said.

    Although China has taken steps to clear the air by the time the Olympics start, the pollution fears are considered serious enough by New Zealand officials to have all athletes screened for possible side-effects.

    Confirmed asthmatics have applied for an exemption allowing them to take ventolin - approval for which is essential, as the medication is on the list of banned substances.

    All of New Zealand's athletes will be offered masks, which effectively 'glue' to the face, and are similar to those used in highly contagious areas such as during a bird flu outbreak.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    And welcome news about the RTE coverage of the Games this year:
    In a new departure, RTÉ's dedicated website RTÉ.ie/Olympics will have six separate web-channels enabling users in Ireland to view five additional events on RTÉ.ie as well as the RTÉ Television coverage which will be streamed simultaneously live.

    The website will also contain a comprehensive on-demand video/audio section of Irish-related Olympics clips, plus top Olympics highlights (Ireland only), a comprehensive live results section, profiles of all Irish Olympians, news stories on Irish athletes, breaking stories from Beijing, photo galleries as well as feature pieces from the RTÉ News Correspondent in Beijing, Margaret Ward.
    RTÉ will be particularly committed to focusing on the achievements of the Irish athletes who are competing in athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming and triathlon


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    I don't think people here appreciate how difficult it is for a shooter to get to the Olympic Games.

    Looking at Derek Burnett's record of attendance at World Cups will give you some idea of the commitment that goes into it. You have three years of travelling to World Cups all over the world (some for rifle and pistol and others for shotgun) there's usually four for each discipline per year.

    The scores are phenomenal. In the recent Munich World cup in prone rifle, there were 111 competitors and two elimination rounds before the qualification round and the top score in one of the eliminators was 600/600, (the other one was 599 :eek:). The competitors are the best in the world all competing for quota places in the Olympics.

    Having got through that you then have to shoot a qualification round against the best 80 of the original field and only the top eight get into the final. In Munich that meant that only those who scored 597 (that's 99.5% accuracy) or over got into the final and two of those didn't on countback.

    To put that in context, the best result we have ever had in prone rifle in a World Cup was Gary Duff in Milan in 1999 who scored a 593 and made the final, so the standard is rising all the time.

    The first 600 in an international was scored in 1989 and there are now eighteen equals to that record including Christian Klees's Olympic Record of 600 from 1996.

    It's not a big target either: the 10 ring is 10.4mm in diameter and is shot with open sights outdoors regardless of the weather (except if there is a danger to competitors, spectators or officials). There's no margin for error. The lads who shoot benchrest will tell you that a small puff of wind can move your bullet a good distance at 50m.

    You have a jacket and sling to help support the rifle and a glove to protect your hand, but the rifle weighs about 6.5kgs and since you can be on the firing point for up to 75 minutes believe me you need it. 10 minutes in that position and your hand goes numb, another ten minutes and your whole arm is now a block of wood. :eek:

    In comparison to the Word Cups, the Olympic Games is a far easier proposition. There are 25 in the prone rifle event this year, so your chances of making the final are drastically improved from a World Cup like Munich or Milan: 1 in 3.1 as opposed to 1 in 10.

    But then of course getting there is the hardest part!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    Just an addendum to that post.

    It appears that Guy Starik from Israel is not going to the Olympics! They appeared to have a quota place but it's listed as re-distributed.

    Guy Starik scored a 600/600 in the 2nd eliminator in the World Cup in Munich - I know that's outside the time for quota places, but I don't think he's missed an OG in years!

    The full list of quota's and wild cards is now on the newly revamped ISSF website here.

    Matt Emmons didn't get one for prone rifle either, so he's not going to be defending his Olympic title. He did get one for 3P rifle but that's it. :(

    Edit: It appears that Emmons is in the prone rifle, but he's not listed. :confused:

    Remember to shoot at your own target this time Matt :D

    Also worthy of note is that Viatcheslav Botchkarev fom Russia, who was the first to score 600 in an international has made the Olympics at the tender age of 40!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    From ISSF TV:
    In the very last minute two National Olympic Committees (NOC) have not used their quota contingent and have returned three Quota Places to the ISSF yesterday.

    By mutual agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee (BOBOC) within the last 24 hours ISSF was able to redistribute three quota places which were returned by the NOCs of China and Russia to three new NOCs who are completing now the shooting family at the 2008 Beijing Games to 103 NOCs with 390 shooters.

    MON - 10m Air Rifle Women
    SYR - Skeet Men
    TJK - 10m Air Pistol Men

    This redistribution enables the Monacan rifle shooter Fabienne PASETTI to reach the train to her sixth Olympic participation since 1988. Beside PASETTI also the already nominated Susan NATTRASS (CAN), Nino SALUKVADZE, (GEO) and Jasna SEKARIC (SRB) will participate for the sixth times at the Olympic Games.

    Last minute indeed! That's going to be tough on the people chosen with only a week to prepare.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    That's appalling. The NOCs who returned those places so late ought to be slapped for it, it's utterly unfair to those who're now running about trying to arrange to get from one side of the planet to the other with a week's notice to get out there, acclimatise (and for the Canadian, it's probably not possible - she'd need 12 days to acclimatise to the timezone changes alone), and then shoot.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    The Chinese especially! They get quota places for hosting the games and have no excuse for not filling them seeing as they would have known seven years ago.

    It's not as though they're short of shooters. I'm surprised at Russia also: no shortage of shooters there either and they'd have to have people with MQS scores to take up the place.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    I've just notced that China have 9 places unnamed in shooting as of yesterday. What are they playing at?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭rrpc


    The latest issue of ISSF News is out and they have a preview of the Olympics here.

    I think for the first time there's a husband and wife both shooting Rifle: Matt and Katerina Emmons; Matt in the Men's three positional rifle and Katerina in the Women's air rifle. Interviews with both of them here and here

    There's an interesting article on Ralf Schumann with a very good picture of the 'brick' he uses and referring back to the discussion I had with bigred earlier, it appears that Christian Reitz won't be competing in the RF pistol after all.

    There's also an article on Michael Diamond, the man who will be the one to beat in Derek Burnett's event.


  • Registered Users Posts: 569 ✭✭✭bayliner


    when is dereks 1st day of shooting??


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Saturday August 9th bayliner, the first day of the shooting events. That's the first qualification round. Here's the competitions schedule with Derek's days in green (don't forget, all times are Beijing local, which is eight hours ahead of us):

    Day|Time|Event|Location
    Day 1 (Aug 9)|08:30-09:45|10m Air Rifle Women Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-13:30|Trap Men Qualification Day 1|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |10:30-10:50|10m Air Rifle Women Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |11:05-11:20|10m Air Rifle Women Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:20|10m Air Pistol Men Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:35-15:50|10m Air Pistol Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    Day 2 (Aug 10)|09:00-10:15|10m Air Pistol Women Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-12:00|Trap Men Qualification Day 2|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |12:00-12:20|10m Air Pistol Women Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |12:35-12:50|10m Air Pistol Women Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:45|Trap Men Final|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |16:00-16:15|Trap Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    Day 3 (Aug 11)|09:00-10:45|10m Air Rifle Men Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-13:00|Trap Women Qualification|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |12:00-12:20|10m Air Rifle Men Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |12:35-12:50|10m Air Rifle Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:45|Trap Women Final|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |16:00-16:15|Trap Women Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    Day 4 (Aug 12)|09:00-11:00|50m Pistol Men Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-13:00|Double Trap Men Qualification|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |12:00-12:20|50m Pistol Men Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |12:35-12:50|50m Pistol Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:45|Double Trap Men Final|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |16:00-16:15|Double Trap Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    Day 5 (Aug 13)|09:00-11:00|25m Pistol Women Qualification (precision stage)|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |12:00-14:00|25m Pistol Women Qualification (rapid fire stage)|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:20|25m Pistol Women Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:35-15:50|25m Pistol Women Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    Day 6 (Aug 14)|09:00-11:15|50m Rifle 3 Position Women Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-13:00|Skeet Women Qualification|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |12:30-12:50|50m Rifle 3 Position Women Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |13:05-13:20|50m Rifle 3 Position Women Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:45|Skeet Women Final|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |16:00-16:15|Skeet Women Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    Day 7 (Aug 15)|09:00-10:15|50m Rifle Prone Men Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-13:30|Skeet Men Qualification Day 1|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |11:30-11:50|50m Rifle Prone Men Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |12:05-12:20|50m Rifle Prone Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |13:00-15:00|25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Qualification (stage 1)|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    Day 8 (Aug 16)|09:00-11:00|25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Qualification (stage 2)|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |09:00-12:00|Skeet Men Qualification Day 2|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |12:00-12:40|25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |12:55-13:10|25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |15:00-15:45|Skeet Men Final|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    |16:00-16:15|Skeet Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range CTF
    Day 9 (Aug 17)|09:00-12:20|50m Rifle 3 Positions Men Qualification|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |13:30-13:50|50m Rifle 3 Positions Men Final|BJ Shooting Range Hall
    |14:05-14:20|50m Rifle 3 Positions Men Medal Ceremony|BJ Shooting Range Hall


  • Registered Users Posts: 569 ✭✭✭bayliner


    nice one sparks cheers:D


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  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    From RTE today:
    One-eyed shooter sets sight on gold

    Blinded in one eye by cancer from the age of two, French shooter Veronique Girardet did not have any aspirations for the Olympics.

    The 42-year-old's first love was clay-pigeon shooting, where she was a four-time world champion.

    Seven years ago, at the ripe age of 35, she 'had a sudden urge to change' and switched to skeet with Olympic success her one and only goal.

    'Since I was a young girl, I always dreamed of being world champion,' she said.

    'Had clay-pigeon been an Olympic sport, I would have had Olympic dreams too, now I'm trying to make up for lost time.'

    Girardet, who won the world skeet title in 2005, has overcome the handicap and speaks freely of her missing eye.

    'Shooting is more a matter of concentration than a matter of sight. It would be more difficult should I shoot at still targets,' she said.

    'I'm a just a little bit disturbed when skeets come from the left.

    'But otherwise, I'm more disturbed in everyday life because I don't have the peripheral vision.'

    Girardet was introduced to shooting by her late father when she was 16.

    'He gave me strength and convinced me I could make it.

    'I always have the impression he's watching me.'


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