Sanderson Experiences the Agony of Defeat

For years the knock against the U.S. shooting team was that it didn’t do well in finals competition, in which a shoot-off is held after the normal course of fire. Unfortunately for Keith Sanderson of San Antonio, TX, that knock had a ring of truth to it.

After the first day of competition, Sanders—the lone U.S. entrant in the event—was in third place with a 289 out of 300. On day two, he fired an outstanding 294 for an Olympic record 593 aggregate and found himself in first place with a two-point lead over his nearest competitor. But a medal wasn’t in the cards. A procession of 9s and low 10s, plus an 8.1 (in the finals, each scoring ring is divided into tenths; a center 10 can score up to 10.9 points) in the 20-shot, six-man final gave him a 776.6 and dropped him into fifth place.

BBC

Oleksander Pitriv of Ukraine, who’d gone into the finals in fourth place with a 580, shot a 200.2 in the final to catapult himself to the gold medal. The dynamic German duo of Ralf Schumann and Christian Reitz came from the bottom two spots to take silver and bronze, respectively, with finals scores of 200.5 and 200.3.

Eighteen athletes competed in the rapid-fire qualifier, the top six making it into the finals.

Olympic event since 18962008 U.S. Olympian: Keith Sanderson

Pistol: Any pistol except single-shot chambered for the .22 Long Rifle weighing less than 1,400 grams (3.09 pounds) with a trigger pull not less than 1,000 grams (35 ounces); compensators, muzzle brakes and similar devices are prohibited. The centerline of the pistol’s bore must pass above the web of the hand when the pistol is held in the normal firing position. The rear of the grip or frame that rests on top of the hand between the thumb and the forefinger may not be longer than 30mm. Pardini is the dominant make, with a smattering of Walthers, IZHs and a few others.

Range: 25 meters

Scoring: The target is 500mm (19.69 inches) wide with scoring rings 5 to 10. The 10-ring is 100mm (3.94 inches) ; the inner-10-ring is 50mm. In finals competition, the scoring rings are divided into tenths, with a center 10 scoring 10.9.

Course of Fire: 60 shots total, fired in two identical stages, one each day. Shooters begin in the ready position, with the pistol lowered 45 degrees, and wait for the start signal (typically a green light in most major international competitions), at which point they fire one shot at each of five side-by-side targets within an allotted time limit–8, 6 or 4 seconds. They then fire another five-shot series within that same time limit. So on day one they’d shoot two five-shot series (10 shots) in 8 seconds each, two in 6 seconds each and two in 4 seconds each for 30 shots. The same occurs on day two and the 60-shot total from both days determines who qualifies for the final.

Finals: The top six competitors fire four additional five-shot series at the four-second limit. The top shooter from the qualification round is squadded in Bay A, the second-best shooter in Bay B and so on.

What to watch for: “This is a very intensive event,” U.S. pistol coach Sergey Luzov says. In slow-fire events, if you shoot a bad shot or are having problems with your concentration, you have time to deal with it. In rapid-fire, you have just a minute or two between strings to relax, deal with the anxiety, get prepared then–boom! you go for it. If something goes wrong in a string, there’s no time to deal with it. And one lapse could put you out of contention.”

The Germans are the ones to watch. Ralf Schumann, 45, who holds the Olympic record, just had his world record (with final) broken by 21-year-old teammate Christian Reitz at a recent World Cup in Milan. “At some events, everybody looks at the Germans and says, ‘Okay, who gets the bronze?’” The Russians contend here as well, and so the Chinese, but Luzov says the latter are not as consistent in this event as they are in others.

“Keith [Sanderson] is fully capable of getting to the podium,” Luzov says. He’s a talented shooter and won a bronze at the Munich World Cup last year, which is a very tough world cup.”

Records
Olympic record*: 596, Ralf Schumann, Germany, Atlanta 1996
with finals*: 698 (596+102), Ralf Schumann, Germany, Atlanta 1996
World record*: 591, two tied
with finals*: 794 (591+203), Christian Reitz, Germany, 2008

* Equipment rule changes established in 2005 lowered scores, which is why the current Olympic record is higher than the current world record. Other rule changes in 2005 mandated a 20-round final instead of 10 shots, so new O
lympic records will be established in this event at Beijing.

RETURN TO MAIN ARTICLE