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Child Item

Beijing Olympic Games 2008

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:

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

meathstevie

Still, congratulations to the man. Even getting there is ample evidence that he's one of the worlds' best. Being one out of the thousands of people who shoot Olympic Trap competitively all over the world is no mean feat.

Also the PR he generates for Irish shooters in general can't be underestimated. For two days in a row the word gun has been mentioned in a very positive light in the media and no money can buy this.

I was listening to Radio One this morning when the live commentary was on on my way to the airport in my taxi with a young lady going to work. When Des Cahill came on giving the run through we ended up talking about clay shooting and I'll be damned if I didn't talk her in to going to Courtlough ( simply because that's the shooting grounds closest to where she lives ) to find out for herself what it's all about. Of course the fact that the first gold medal at the olympics was won by a young lady firing a gun might have added a bit to the interest. Sorry Sparks I didn't elaborate on the fact that it was actually an airrifle because I know feck all about airrifle competitions.

Sparks

No worries meath

It's a strong example of the impact of "sporting heroes" in PR, and shows you have to simultaenously build the base and push the top folks, because one begets the other.

Valter

All we have to do now is find a way to keep this positive attitude going and get 1 or 2 more shooters to London in 2012, Sparks, your mission, whether you like it or not! oh, and I'll leave a skirt for you on point 1 at WTSC, I've borrowed one from Geoff's wife!

freddieot

"Burnett finished 29th of the 35 Trap shooting competitors overall, with a five-round total of 110 clays out of 125. The top qualifier was Russia's Alexey Alipov who scored 121."

Look at that result, against some of the best in the world - He still has my absolute respect and I think most would agree that just by competing at that level he has already done the country proud !

**** happens - sounds like the kind of guy that will come back much stronger from it.

Double Barrel

Men's trap
http://www.nbcolympics.com/shooting/photos/galleryid=185911.html

Men's double trap
http://www.nbcolympics.com/shooting/photos/galleryid=118348.html

cavan shooter

It is a pity he's out there is always London and hopefully more shooters in all disciplines.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Shooting Day 2 Review: Kostelecky creates a new shooting legend

(BEIJING, August 10) – August 10, 2008 will always be remembered as the day a new shooting legend was born in the Men's Trap.

Most pundits were expecting today to be a continuation of an old legend, either in the form of two-time gold medalist Michael Diamond of Australia or Athens 2004 gold medalist Alexey Alipov of Russia.

Few expected overnight leader, the Czech Republic's David Kostelecky to hold out the above two legends and win his first gold medal. Even fewer were expecting such a stellar performance from Kostelecky.

Kostelecky only missed one target in the two qualification rounds that were held today, taking his total qualification score to 121. He then blew his competitors away by hitting 25 consecutive targets in the final, which is a perfect score.

Most were still expecting Diamond to win after he shot well in the opening stages of the final. Alipov, on the other hand, lost his composure and dropped four shots.

Kostelecky, however, was undeterred at the sight of the gallant Diamond. The 33-year-old Czech kept his nerves in check and was unbeatable. Diamond ended up missing two targets in the final, but even a perfect score would not have beaten the Czech shooter.

Kostelecky is the second Czech shooter to win a gold medal at Beijing 2008, following on from Katerina Emmons' victory in the Women's 10m Rifle. Despite the driving rain, he remained cool under pressure and ensured that a shooting legend was born.

The other gold medalist today was China's Guo Wenjun, who won the Women's 10m Air Pistol. Guo performed extremely well in the final, shooting a score of 102.3 which took her total score to 492.3 -- an Olympic record for the final score.

Guo's victory was even more remarkable because she had to beat Russia's Natalia Paderina who broke the Olympic qualification record in the qualification round. However, Guo proved to have nerves of steel and won China's second Shooting gold medal, following on from Pang Wei's win in the Men's 10m Air Pistol.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Shooting Day 3 Preview: China looks for more gold in Shooting

(BEIJING, August 10) -- Another two gold medals will be decided tomorrow in the Men's 10m Air Rifle and the Women's Trap.

China will have a chance to win its third Shooting gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle as World No. 1 Zhu Qinan of China will take part in the event. Zhu won the gold medal in the event at Athens 2004.

If Zhu can win on home soil, he will become the first shooter to win two gold medals in the event, which has been on the Olympic calendar since Los Angeles 1984.

To beat Zhu, an Olympic record will almost certainly need to be broken because Zhu is the current Olympic record holder with a near-perfect 599 in the qualification round at Athens 2004.

Zhu also holds the record for an Olympic final score, the 702.7 that he shot at Athens 2004 to win the gold medal.

Zhu's main threat will be Romanian Alin George Moldoveanu. Moldoveanu won the gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle at the 2008 Munich World Cup in May.

Zhu's form, however, has been better. The 21-year-old Chinese shooter has won two World Cup stops this year – in Beijing and Milan.

Zhu may have to contend with his compatriot, 20-year-old Cao Yifei. Cao was the runner-up at the Milan World Cup and is a talented young shooter.

In the Women's Trap, San Marino's Daniela Del Din will strive to win a gold medal for the tiny European country. Del Din, 38, is the current World No. 1.

China's Liu Yingzi will provide Del Din with some tough competition. The 37-year-old native of Hunan province will be buoyed by the top class performances of China's Shooting gold medalists Pang Wei and Guo Wenjun.

Valter

Let the fun begin! :rolleyes:

rrpc

Well, another surprise for both the Chinese and everyone else. The Olympic Men's Air Rifle Champion is Abhinav Bindra of India who scored a 596 and 104.5 to take the Gold Medal.

Second was Qinan Zhu of China with 597 and 102.7 followed by Henri Hakkinen of Finland with 598 and 101.4

So that's the start order completely reversed. In fact Bindra was fourth going into the final!

A lot of big names didn't even make the final. Jonathan Hammond of GB came 29th with a 589.

Results here

rrpc

And Finland have taken the Women's Trap with Satu Makela Nummela winning by two birds from Zuzana Stefecekova of Slovakia and five from Corey Cogdell of the USA.

Corey Cogdell had to go into a 4 wy shoot off to get the bronze and just made it by clipping the first clay where the others missed completely.

It was a fairly close fought contest where there was doubt as to the winner right up to the second last shot.

rrpc

Tomorrow we have the Men's double trap and 50m Pistol. Both qualification rounds are at 9:00 Beijing time with the finals for the 50m pistol at 12:00 and the Double Trap at 15:00.

Sparks

From the Games website:

India's Bindra wins gold in the Men's 10m Air Rifle

India's Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 11) -- India's Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle in Beijing on August 11 with an incredible performance in the final. Bindra shot a total score of 700.5.

China's Zhu Qinan, gold medalist at Athens 2004, won the silver medal with a total score of 699.7.

The bronze medal was won by Finland's Henri Hakkinen, who was leading the field after the qualification round, but was unable to hold off Bindra and Zhu in the final. The Finnish shooter shot a total of 699.4.

Hakkinen shot 598 in the qualification round, giving him a one point lead over Zhu. Bindra was one point further back with 596.

Bindra signals his intentions early in the final, with a 10.7 on his first shot. None of Bindra's shots in the final dropped below 10.0.

Hakkinen's performance in the final was solid, but it needed to be better. He averaged 10.14 per shot in the final, compared to Bindra's 10.45.

Going into the last shot, Bindra and Hakkinen were tied for first place, but Bindra secured the gold medal with his best shot of the final, an outstanding 10.8.

Conversely, Hakkinen's last shot was his worst, a lowly 9.7. This allowed Zhu to overcome Hakkinen and win the silver medal. Zhu shot 10.5 on his last shot.

Zhu will be disappointed that did not become the first shooter to win two gold medals in the Men's 10m Air Pistol. However, he was unable to reproduce his best – Zhu holds the Olympic record for the final score in the event, the 702.7 that he shot at Athens 2004.

Not an Anschutz this time round:

Sparks

From the Games website:

Shooting Day 3 Review: Indian and Finnish surprises rule the day

(BEIJING, August 11) -- Upsets marked the third day of competition in the Olympic Shooting tournament.

India's Abhinav Bindra surprised all by winning the gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle. Bindra shot a total of 700.5 to defeat favorite Zhu Qinan of China and Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Bindra's gold medal is the first time that an Indian athlete has won an individual Olympic gold medal. India's previous eight gold medals were all won in Hockey.

Athens 2004 gold medalist Zhu will be disappointed at not winning his second Olympic gold medal, but he has a lot more Olympic competition ahead of him -- Zhu is only 23 years old.

At 25, Bindra is not much older than Zhu, so today's event could be the start of a promising rivalry between the shooters from the world's most populous countries.

Bindra, who secured the gold medal with a 10.8 on his last shot, managed to block out the pressure of being India's first individual gold medalist.

"I was trying to concentrate on shooting. I wasn't thinking about making history. I mean I was two points behind at one stage. I was just trying to concentrate. I just wanted to shoot well, I just wanted to shoot aggressively, and that's what I did," said Bindra.

Zhu on the other hand, shot well below his best and was probably affected by the huge expectations placed on him to win gold.

"My desire for getting another gold medal for my motherland was so strong that I was under so much stress before the Games," said Zhu.

Finland's Satu Makela-Nummela won the gold medal in the Women's Trap, making her only the third Finnish woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

To win gold, Makela-Nummela was forced to defeat Slovakia's Zuzana Stefecekova, who is a world recorder in the event.

Makela-Nummela shot a final score of 91, two more than Stefecekova. The United States' Corey Cogdell won the bronze medal after winning a shoot-off.

The gold medal was an open race after the two favorites, San Marino's Daniela Del Din and China's Liu Yingzi failed to make the final.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Shooting Day 4 Preview: A swag of stars to grace the shooting range

(BEIJING, August 11) -- Tomorrow's Olympic Shooting competition will see gold medals handed out to the winners of the Men's 50m Pistol and the Men's Double Trap.

Athens 2004 gold medalist Mikhail Nestruev of Russia will be looking for another gold medal in the Men's 50m Pistol, but will need to once again confront the Athens 2004 silver and bronze medalists, Jin Jong-oh of the Republic of Korea and Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The field actually has another couple of shooters who have won Olympic gold medals in the event - Sydney 2000 gold medalist Tanyu Kiriakov of Bulgaria and Barcelona 1992 gold medalist Kanstantsin Lukashyk of Belarus.

Possible challengers to the Olympic medalists include Joao Costa of Portugal, Matsuda Tomoyuki of Japan and Lin Zhongzai of China.

The United Arab Emirates' Ahmed Al Maktoum will look to defend the gold medal that he won in Men's Double Trap at Athens 2004. Al Maktoum won his country's first Olympic medal by setting an Olympic record in the qualification round and equaling Russell Mark of Australia's Olympic record for the final.

Al Maktoum's main competition will come from Great Britain's Richard Faulds. Faulds won a gold medal in the event at Sydney 2000 and is currently World No. 1.

Mark will also be competing tomorrow, representing Australia for the fifth time at the Olympic Games. Mark won the gold medal in the event at Atlanta 1996 and a silver medal at Sydney 2000. The experienced campaigner may cause an upset and defeat Al Maktoum and Faulds.

rrpc

The 50m pistol was won by Jin Jong-oh of the Rep of Korea with a 563 and 97.4 in the final. Second was Kim Jong-su of the DPR of Korea with 563 and 97.2 (really close final obviously). Especially as third was taken by Tan Zongliang of China with 565 and 94.5!

Remember that both of the Koreans (different Korea's obviously) were repectively 2nd and 3rd in the Men's Air Pistol.

In fact three more of the finalists were also on 563, one on 562 and 8th was 559.

That's tight!

Nestruev didn't make the final, finishing with a 552 in 24th. Lukashyk fared slightly better wih a 558 and 11th overall.

No one came within an asses roar of Melentiev's record 581 set at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 incidentally with a Toz 35.

rrpc

Heartbreak for Francesco D'Aniello of Italy in the Men's double trap. He went into the final with a 141, 4 behind Walton Eller of the USA and although he posted a better score of 46 against Eller's 45, it wasn't enough to secure gold.

After the final shots he collapsed on the ground and really the cameras should have left him to his grief but instead kept a close up on him as he sobbed his heart out.

For anyone who thinks this stuff is easy, that alone should give some idea of the mountain that has to be climbed to get to the Olympics and the personal investment that goes along with competing.

Third place went to Binyuan Hu of China with a 138 and 46. 4th went to Jeffrey Holguin of the USA, Russell Mark of Australia came 5th, Richard Faulds of the GB came 6th and Almaktoum came seventh, not making the final.

rrpc

The finals of both the shooting events will be shown on BBC stream 4 from 7pm to 8:15pm this evening.

rrpc

Tomorrow's event is the Women's 25m Pistol. For those who shot in the Rathdrum pistol shoot on the 18th May, this is the exact same competition and course of fire.

It's 30 shots in 30 minutes on the precision target (the small one with the 50mm 10 ring) and then 30 shots (each shot in 3 seconds) on the rapid fire target (100mm 10 ring).

The final (which will be televised) is then shot on the rapid fire target with 20 shots for each competitor in the 1 shot per 3 seconds time frame.

The way it works is that you get a loading time of 1 minute for each 5 shot series. The red attention light comes on for seven seconds during which the pistol is in the ready position (45 degrees from the body, not touching the bench or table) and then the green light comes on for 3 seconds in which time you have to raise the pistol and fire one shot. This is repeated for five shots when there is another 1 minuite load period and the sequence repeats.

The World record for this event is 594 out of 600 scored by Diana Iorgova of Bulgaria in 1994 and equalled by Luna Tao of China in 2002. The Olympic Record is 590 by Luna Tao set in Sydney 2000.

This is a tough challenge. Raising the pistol and sighting it can take over two seconds, so there's no margin for error at all.

People to watch in this event are Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria and Gundeqmaa Otryad of Mongolia who have both been over 590 in the last four years. Grozdeva would be the favourite, having already got two Olympic Gold Medals in Sydney and Athens in this event and also being the holder of the Final World Record of 796.7.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Chinese shooter blows out in the final of the Men's 50m Pistol

(L-R) Kim Jong-su, Jin Jong-oh and Tan Zongliang. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 12) -- China's Tan Zongliang will regret his first and last shot in the final of the Men's 50m Pistol for a long time.

The 7.9 points from his first shot, the worst among all his shots in the final, wrote off the two-point lead that he gained in the qualification round. In the qualification round, Tan shot a total of 565, while the other five shooters were tied on 563.

Tan's mistake gave Jin Jong-oh of the Republic of Korea the opportunity to win the gold medal with a final score of 660.4. The silver medal was won by Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who shot a final score of 660.2, while Tan won a consolation bronze with a final score of 659.5.

Jin still gave Tan a chance to win the gold medal though. Kim only scored 8.2 on his last shot, which meant second-placed Tan could still win gold if he scored more than 10.1 on his last shot. Tan, however, could only shoot 9.2 and instead of winning gold, Tan bid farewell to silver as well because Kim overtook Tan with an outstanding 10.5 on his last shot.

The bronze medal is 37-year-old Tan's first medal from four Olympics.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Lanky Texan wins gold and breaks Olympic records in the Men's Double Trap

Eller celebrates his victory. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 12) -- US shooter Walton Eller's first Olympic medal is golden.

"It felt awesome. I've been working at this for God knows how long now. The last two times I finished 17th and 12th, so I'm glad I finally made a final," said the 26-year-old Texan.

All his hard work could be witnessed in the qualification rounds, when he hit 145 targets out of a maximum 150, a new Olympic qualification record. Italian Francesco D Aniello finished the qualification rounds in second place, four points less than Eller. The other four shooters who qualified for the final were US shooter Jeffrey Holguin (140), China's Hu Binyuan (138), Sydney 2000 gold medal winner Richard Faulds of Great Britain (137) and Atlanta 1996 gold medal winner Russell Mark of Australia (136).

The final round saw Eller miss five targets, equal to the amount of targets he missed in the three qualification rounds. After Eller missed the first two targets, his opponents had some hope of victory, but the lanky American recovered and hit a total of 45 targets in the final, a good enough score to set a new Olympic record for the final score. Eller's 190 overtook the 189 targets hit by Ahmed Almaktoum of the United Arab Emirates at Athens 2004.

D Aniello and Hu both hit 46 targets in the final, earning the silver and bronze medals respectively with finals scores of 187 and 184.

Holguin (182), Mark (181) and Faulds (180) finished in the last three places. Mark's path to the final was tumultuous as he needed to win a shoot-off against three other shooters. All four shooters had hit 136 targets in the qualification rounds.

Mark needed to hit six targets in the shoot-off, eventually besting Athens 2004 gold medalist Almaktoum.

Sparks

Not everyone, it seems, thinks this is real sport. Hooray for Virgin Media :mad:

Since when did the hobby of shooting paper targets, tin cans, water bottles and crows in your garden escalate into a full-blown Olympic event? The guns are equipped with telescopic sights and a vice to keep the rifle steady. Where’s the skill in that?

Stupidity rating 5/10

Sparks

An update on Derek from the ICPSA website:

The final results from the Olympic Trap event are now available

Now that the long wait for the commencement of the xxix Olympiad is almost over, all eyes will move east to Beijing and tomorrows opening ceremony.

One person who will not be participating in this ceremony however will be the ICPSA's own Derek Burnett for whom Friday 8th August 2008 will be the final day of preparation for his quest for Olympic success and he will be found at the Beijing Shooting Range CTF for the official practice session along with the rest of those athletes who will be competing in the Olympic Trap event.

Saturday 9th August will see the first shots fired in the Olympic Trap qualifying rounds at approx. 2am Irish time with each competitor completing 75 targets on day one.

Day two will also start at approx. 2am Irish time and when each competitor has completed a further 50 targets and the make up of the final is known, the final round of 25 targets which will decide the destination of this years medals is scheduled for approx. 8am Irish time.

We would like to wish Derek every success in the days ahead and we are sure that the capable hands of High Performance Programme Director Kevin Kilty and Professor Peter Terry will ensure that Derek is well positioned to "give it his best shot".

RTE has promised comprehensive coverage of the event and the programme schedule should be closely watched in the days ahead for further details and we will post any additional information if or when it becomes available.

Day one results:

At the conclusion of day one, Derek Burnett lies in 15th place three targets off the pace. Gusting winds combined with 90% humiditity and 30+ degrees ensured that scores were not as expected and consequently all is still left to shoot for as the Ireland contingent prepare for the second and final days competition.

While Derek is not positioned on the leader board as he or indeed we would have hoped, based on the results of the ISSF World Cup held at the venue earlier in the year a score of 49 ex 50 on day two might be good enough to see him progress to the final.

However even this result is dependant upon the performance of others on the day and his fait is ultimately outside his own hands.

Shooting on day two will commence at approx. 2am Irish time and again we wish Derek, Kevin and Peter the very best of luck.

A report on Derek's progress was broadcast this morning at approx. 8am and further coverage is planned this evening (09/08/08) on RTE after 7pm.

Day two-Final Results: (Full results are available below as a download attachment)
Despite a valiant effort by Derek Burnett, an opening round of 22 saw all chances of his progressing to the finals disappear. His final round score of 19 summed up what has turned out to be a disappointing Olympics both for Derek personally and those involved with the ICPSA High Performance Programme and his finishing position does not accurately reflect the time, energy and dedicated commitment of the last number of years nor indeed the ability and potential of Derek and those supporting him.

It is however a measure of the progress of the sport and the ICPSA High Performance Programme that there is now a real disappointment at not having achieved a result when a good result was expected.

This disappointment also demonstrates the progress made over the past four years from the Association being satisfied merely at qualifying for the Olympics or indeed any major Championships to now seeking not alone to compete with but to realistically expect to finish ahead of competitors from far bigger countries who have substantially more resources in terms of funding and facilities as well as a deeper rooted history in the sport.

The road to London 2012 has already begun and we must look forward to charting the progress of our shooters and the sport internationally and at home in the years ahead.

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

Not everyone, it seems, thinks this is real sport. Hooray for Virgin Media :mad:

That stupidity rating, is it 10 for really stupid or the other way around? I would have thought that it was closer to 10 if that was the paragon of stupidity.

Held in a vice with telescopic sights!

The chap who wrote that needs glasses, never mind a telescope :rolleyes:

Sorry, having looked at the article it seems the stupidity rating is for the sport and not the writer. You could understand my confusion

rrpc

The Women's 3P rifle should also be an interesting contest. Katerina Emmoms who has already one gold for Air Rifle (although not considered a serious contender) is competing along with World Record holder Sonja Pfeilschifter, Chinese athlete Du Li who was widely expected to win the Air Rifle, Barbara Lechner and Natalya Kalnysh who have all been over the 590 mark in this event.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Shooting Day 4 Review: Sharp shooter smashes record

(BEIJING, August 12) -- The United States’ Walton Eller set an Olympic final record by taking the gold in the Men's Double Trap while Jin Jong-oh won gold for the Republic of Korea in the Men's 50m Pistol with a margin of just 0.2 at the Beijing Shooting Range on Tuesday.

Eller broke both the Olympic qualification and final records that were set by defending gold medalist Ahmed Al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates in Athens. Eller, who finished 17th at Athens 2004, shot steadily (45 out of 50) in the final to claim the United States’ first-ever gold in the event.

In the Men's 50m Pistol, Jin, silver medalist in Athens, entered the final ranked sixth but gained the lead from the first shot, which he lost only once on his fourth shot when he scored 8.5. He made a shaky 8.2 on his final shot but held on to win the gold medal.

Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea scored an impressive 10.5 on his last shot, but it was not enough to close the gap and he was forced to settle for the silver medal, his second medal in Beijing. He won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol on August 9.

Favorite Tan Zongliang of China earned his first Olympic medal – a bronze - with a score of 659.5. He was first after the qualification round, but a poor first shot (7.9) dropped him to sixth and he was unable to regain the lead.

In the Men's Double Trap, World No. 8 Francesco D Aniello of Italy earned his first Olympic medal and Italy's second silver medal at the Beijing 2008 Shooting competition. The first silver medal was won by Giovanni Pellielo in the Men’s Trap. After the final ended, D Aniello kneeled on the grass and cried tears of happiness when he realized that he had secured the silver medal.

The local favorite, Hu Binyuan of China, who finished fourth at Athens 2004, hit 46 of the 50 targets in the final to win the bronze medal. China also won bronze medals in Men’s Double Trap at Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004.

Both Hu and D Aniello shot the highest number of targets in the final (46 out of 50). The two other Olympic medalists in the final, Russell Mark of Australia and Richard Faulds of Great Britain, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Sparks

From the Games website:

Shooting Day 5 Preview: Grozdeva shoots for third Gold

(BEIJING, August 12) -- Bulgaria's Maria Grozdeva will be shooting for her third straight Olympic gold medal in the Women's 25m Pistol at the Beijing Shooting Range on August 13.

Grozdeva will be seeking her sixth Olympic medal, having won gold medals in this event at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, and bronze medals in the 10m Air Pistol at Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004.

The mother of three won a gold medal in the 25m Pistol at the 2008 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a score of 787.0.

Other top shooters competing tomorrow include the Athens 2004 silver medalist, Lenka Maruskova of the Czech Republic and China's Chen Ying and Fei Fengji.

Chen won every world title on offer in 2007 and will probably be Grozdeva's top challenger.

Lalita Yauhleuskaya of Australia and Jasna Sekaric of Serbia, the top-ranked players in the world, will also compete in the qualification round.

rrpc

For those who still can't get a look at the shooting events, here's a site with streaming broadcasts that covers everything live and has highlights of the finals as well.

http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics/

Double Barrel

Video of double trap is of the whole match:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player....nelcode=sportsh

rrpc

As far as I know, NBC coverage is limited to US residents only and even then only to affiliates