Saturday, August 09, 2008

Olympic Dreams

Even after all the hype, the Olympics managed to sneak up on me. We already have the first shooting results:
The first day of the shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China was contested Saturday with Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) and Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.) turning out impressive performances, each finishing in the fourth spots in the respective events.

In Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Beyerle claimed fourth place, barely out of medal contention, shooting a qualification score of 397, a final score of 102.8 for a total of 499.8.

“This is the best I have shot since the World Cup USA last year, so I am really happy with it,” Beyerle said following her fourth place finish.

Emily Caruso (Fairfield, Conn.), a 2004 Olympian, finished in 15th place with a score of 395 qualification points and did not advance to the final.

The first gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games went to Katy Emmons of the Czech Republic, who finished with a qualification score of 400, a final of 103.5 for total score of 503.5, setting a finals Olympic record. Emmons of the Czech Republic, who was the 2004 bronze medalist, is married to U.S. rifle shooter Matt Emmons, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

The silver medal in Women’s Air Rifle went to Lioubov Galkina of Russia with a score of 502.1 and Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia took the bronze with 500.9.

Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.), a 2004 Olympian, placed fourth and Brian Beaman (Selby, S.D.) took fifth place in the Men's 10m Air Pistol competition. Turner entered the final with a qualification score of 583, while Beaman shot a qualifying score of 581. Turner shot a 99.0 in the final and Beaman fired a score of 101.0, each finishing the final with a score of 682.0. Turner earned fourth place with a 10.5 to Beaman's 10.3 in a one-shot shoot-off.

“This was my first time in a final at the Olympics, so it was hard for me to calm my shots,” said Turner of his performance in the final. In looking ahead to his free pistol competition on Tuesday, Turner said he is excited for his next event. “I performed well today, but just fell short of a medal. I can learn from this and hopefully today’s experience will help me prepare for free pistol.”
I have my fingers crossed for my good friend Jason...he is an altogether cool guy and an amazing shot. I have stood on the line at the 10 meter air pistol range in Colorado Springs, and, hell, I can't even visualize that tiny X-ring. I shot what for me were good groups, but it was strictly duffer stuff compared to what Jason and Jamie do on a daily basis.

So many of the athletes over there are more than shooters...they're my friends, people I've known, worked with and hung out with for years. I can't even imagine the pressure they're under...good job, Jason and Jamie, good job.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post.Not gonna find any shooting on the MSM I'll bet. the mushroom

shooter said...

That brings back the days of shooting 10m air rifle at Marquette University. I was fortunate enough to shoot with Mike Douglass, who went 14th (if memorex serves) in Atlanta.

Anonymous said...

Frankly, I find anything to do with the Olympics to be a bore. All this talk of sports in the MSM "bringing the world toether" is enough to make you puke. If the Olympics ceased to exist no one would notice.