BEIJING, China (August 9, 2008) — 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.”
Beaman’s 101.0 in the final round was second only to the eventual gold medalist Pang Wei of China, whose final score of 102.2 gave him a total of 688.2, nearly four points ahead of silver medalist Jin Jong Oh of Korea, who shot a total score of 684.5. Kim Jong Su of the People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) won the bronze with a score of 683.0.
After 75 targets in the Men’s Trap competition, Dominic Grazioli (San Antonio, Texas) is holding 16th place with an overall score of 69 targets and three-time Olympian Bret Erickson (Bennington, Neb.) is in the 31st spot with 65 targets. Leading the way for the trap men is David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic with 73 targets. The Men’s Trap event will conclude tomorrow with the last 50 targets and the final.
For complete results from the shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, please visit the following link on the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: results.beijing2008.cn
