Olympic airgun shooters?

RickH

Member
Jan 22, 2022
346
451
Evening everyone,

I don’t know if this is the right place for this but here it is. I recently acquired a used 10 meter Anschutz I intend to use in 15 meter matches. It’s got a few years on it but shoots very well at 15. I found some YouTube videos of 10 meter competition at the Olympics and decided to see what I could pick up. Learned a lot but noticed that all the shooters were Russian, Ukrainian and several European countries. No shooters from the U.S. it was the medal round I was watching and I don’t know how many, if any, qualifying rounds there were. Do we not compete in this event or did we just not make it to the finals? It was the 2016 games.

Rick H.
 
Back in 1984, I went to the "shooting" part of the Olympics when it was here. The shooting was at the "Prado Dam" area. I believe shooting is still allowed there.
It wasn't air guns as I recall, I think it was .22 shorts. Though I could be wrong...
I don't remember much, but I do recall, the English language was spoken with...more "normal" US accents.

Mike
 
The Olympic shooting sports venue in America is rather a shoestring operation financially. Many nation states (you can guess who) support Olympic athletes at a far higher level, drafting them at young ages and giving family incentives to embrace their training. It's not too surprising that we no longer have a dominance in the sport. In some countries, having a competitor scouted at a young age is quite a windfall for the family. Here, you are just an amateur trying to find a way to train and eat.
 
Oh crap, I just went through that web site and saw 2020 medalisto. One of the ladies has a unique last name. I just got a used 10 meter rifle from an RC club member with the same last name. I know his wife shoots competitively so I am betting this is her. The pedigree on this rifle keeps getting more interesting.
Rick H.
 
Evening everyone,

I don’t know if this is the right place for this but here it is. I recently acquired a used 10 meter Anschutz I intend to use in 15 meter matches. It’s got a few years on it but shoots very well at 15. I found some YouTube videos of 10 meter competition at the Olympics and decided to see what I could pick up. Learned a lot but noticed that all the shooters were Russian, Ukrainian and several European countries. No shooters from the U.S. it was the medal round I was watching and I don’t know how many, if any, qualifying rounds there were. Do we not compete in this event or did we just not make it to the finals? It was the 2016 games.

Rick H.
Janie Beyerle 2012 gold medalist 3 position daughter of Rod Beyerle an AGN mbr from Palmyra Sportsman Assn in PA
 
Just going and shooting at CMP matches is a humbling experience and that’s if I’m having a good day. I don’t practice or work nearly as hard on this as I did shooting pb rifles. I’m going to have fun with it but a lot of these younger shooters are impressive. I’ve also noticed several high school aged shooters who are clearly participating in school connected shooting teams, something I’d never heard of before.

Rick H.