Well, here’s a second look since my first look at the Olympic shooters in Beijing.

The US so far has six medals in the shooting events.  As you may remember, Corey Codgell was the big story, the newcomer who wasn’t even expected to be on the team worked her way through the obstacles and managed to wind up with a bronze medal in the women’s trap.  Kim Rhode took her fourth medal, a silver, in the Women’s Skeet, and Glen Eller took the gold and a new world record in Men’s Double Trap.

Since then, a few more stories have been told:

Jason Turner put in a tough fight in the 10 metre air pistol event, only to finish in fourth place.  However, a positive drug test disqualified the North Korean competitor, moving Turner into the third place spot for the Bronze.   Sure, I don’t think that’s how any Olympian wants to win a medal, but it’s no less an accomplishment for folks who compete at that level of skill.

 

 

Matt Emmons has been here before, but in the finals of the Men’s Prone Rifle managed to shoot a great score to lock in the silver medal, edged out by Ukrainian Artur Ayvazian. 

Most folks remember Emmons for his disastrous “cross-shot” in the Athens games, where, with the Gold Medal almost guaranteed, he fired his final shot into the target next to him. 

Emmons went on to his next event in this year’s Games, the Men’s Three Position Rifle, and lightning struck again… with the Gold Medal practically around his neck, Emmons’s final shot went wild, essentially off the paper and knocking him all the way back to fourth place. 

 

 

Medal #6 for the  US went to Men’s Skeet shooter, Vincent Hancock who took the gold after a fairly dramatic shoot-off with Norway’s Tore Brovold.

In the qualification round, Hancock set a new Olympic record, breaking 121 out of 125 targets.  That’s pretty danged good shooting.  He missed one target in the finals, while Brovold had a perfect round, tying their scores and leading to the shoot-off. 

 

 

 

How about archery?

Unfortunately, U.S. archers came away without any medals at all, but that’s not due to lack of skill and quality on the team.  They were out-shot in every event, but they made an impressive showing up until the end. 

I think there are still a couple of shooting events left, but the Games are almost over.  Congratulations to all the shooters and archers, from every country.  The impressive level of skill and marksmanship is impossible to overstate, as these folks really do represent the best of the best.

 

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