An intense day of Olympic shooting
5th August 2012
The atmosphere at the Royal Artillery Barracks came as a complete surprise. A respectful silence whilst the marksmen competed was to be expected, but not the knife-cuttable tension. Arriving late and in the midst of a deluge a deflating "it's all off" experience seemed likely. In fact, the rain delayed the trap shooting so we got to see both that and the Men's 50m Pistol Final.
The pistol takes place in the Finals Hall, a vast white box of a structure. The MC encourages everyone to cheer any score over 10. In practice we're all too fearful of putting someone off so save the applause for the end of each round. (I always thought 10 for a bulls eye was top score. Apparently it's scored in 0.1's nowadays, so 10 is a bull, 10.9 is dead centre and it's all assessed electronically).
It was all over in twenty minutes in which you hardly dared to breath, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Eight shooters, seventy-five seconds for each one of ten shots. The Range Officer calls each round in turn "3, 2, 1, Start". The competitors slowly raise their pistols and pause ...... Holding position, waiting, waiting, until perfectly composed before squeezing the trigger. One by one the athletes waiver and fall out of contention, shooting an eight rather than a high nine or even a ten. In the last round consistency is rewarded. Jin Jongoh of Korea scores 10.2 to overtake his team mate, who can only manage 8.4, and wins by 0.5. The knowledgeable applaud with added enthusiasm for Jin Jongh has just become the most successful Olympic pistol shooter of all time. Jin has successfully defended his 2008 50m title and won the 10m pistol a few days ago - no wonder the Korean looks slightly overwhelmed by it all.
Back outside the rain has stopped and the trap shooting resumed. It's not so tense, this is "only" qualification. Not that you'd know it from the intense look on Michael Diamond's face - Australia's champion from the Sydney Olympics. Diamond's one hundred percent accuracy puts him in the lead and we go down to wish him well for the final. (Note to people behind the the consistently uninformative results app - Diamond is not American).
Shooting has turned out to be a much more exhausting and intriguing day than expected. Without the shouting and cheering associated with most competition there's no outlet for the slow burning tension that builds round after round. Keeping it in is so much harder than letting it all out in one big yell.
Pictures:
50m Pistol Final underway in The Finals Hall
Australian Adam Valla bags a clay in The Trap
Carole chatting with Michael Diamond after his perfect qualification round
5th August 2012
The atmosphere at the Royal Artillery Barracks came as a complete surprise. A respectful silence whilst the marksmen competed was to be expected, but not the knife-cuttable tension. Arriving late and in the midst of a deluge a deflating "it's all off" experience seemed likely. In fact, the rain delayed the trap shooting so we got to see both that and the Men's 50m Pistol Final.
The pistol takes place in the Finals Hall, a vast white box of a structure. The MC encourages everyone to cheer any score over 10. In practice we're all too fearful of putting someone off so save the applause for the end of each round. (I always thought 10 for a bulls eye was top score. Apparently it's scored in 0.1's nowadays, so 10 is a bull, 10.9 is dead centre and it's all assessed electronically).
It was all over in twenty minutes in which you hardly dared to breath, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Eight shooters, seventy-five seconds for each one of ten shots. The Range Officer calls each round in turn "3, 2, 1, Start". The competitors slowly raise their pistols and pause ...... Holding position, waiting, waiting, until perfectly composed before squeezing the trigger. One by one the athletes waiver and fall out of contention, shooting an eight rather than a high nine or even a ten. In the last round consistency is rewarded. Jin Jongoh of Korea scores 10.2 to overtake his team mate, who can only manage 8.4, and wins by 0.5. The knowledgeable applaud with added enthusiasm for Jin Jongh has just become the most successful Olympic pistol shooter of all time. Jin has successfully defended his 2008 50m title and won the 10m pistol a few days ago - no wonder the Korean looks slightly overwhelmed by it all.
Back outside the rain has stopped and the trap shooting resumed. It's not so tense, this is "only" qualification. Not that you'd know it from the intense look on Michael Diamond's face - Australia's champion from the Sydney Olympics. Diamond's one hundred percent accuracy puts him in the lead and we go down to wish him well for the final. (Note to people behind the the consistently uninformative results app - Diamond is not American).
Shooting has turned out to be a much more exhausting and intriguing day than expected. Without the shouting and cheering associated with most competition there's no outlet for the slow burning tension that builds round after round. Keeping it in is so much harder than letting it all out in one big yell.
Pictures:
50m Pistol Final underway in The Finals Hall
Australian Adam Valla bags a clay in The Trap
Carole chatting with Michael Diamond after his perfect qualification round
