JANUARY 2004

THE OLYMPIC GAMES THEN, NOW

AND IN THE FUTURE



It's a new year, 2004, an Olympic year. The Olympic Games return to their
birthplace, Athens, Greece, this year . The shotgun sports are scheduled August
14 through the 22nd.

Shotgun sports have a long tradition in the Olympics. Clay target and live bird
shooting were added to the Paris Olympic games in 1900. In 1906, (Athens) live
birds were dropped and the clay target consisted of two events, singles and
doubles.

The first American Team participated in the 1912, Stockholm games. James R.
Graham won the individual Gold medal and the US took the Team Gold. The Antwerp
Olympics of 1920 saw the Americans win all of the individual medals and the US
Team won the Gold medal by 44 targets. The 1924 Olympic games (Paris) saw the US
Team take Gold again, but only one individual medal, a Bronze to Frank H.
Hughes.

Clay target did not again appear in the Olympics until the 1952 Helsinki Games.
The clay target format was very similar to today's trap game. It was not until
the 1960, Rome, Olympics that an American Team again competed when James R.
Clark took 4th place. William C. Morris, III won Bronze in the 1964 Tokyo games
and Tom I. Garrigus took Silver for the US at the 1968 Mexico City games.

Don Haldemen is the only American ever to win the Men's Gold Medal for Trap. He
did that in Montreal in 1976. Haldeman has recently died, but his widow has
arranged for his gun and some Olympic memorabilia to be on display at the
Krieghoff International offices in Ottsville, Pennsylvania. Additional material
is permanently on display at the Pennsylvania Trap Shooters Hall of Fame, Valley
Gun Club, Elysburg, Pennsylvania.

Dan Carlisle with the US Army Team took Bronze in Skeet at Los Angeles in 1984.
In 1988, at Seoul, he was one of the few ever to compete in both Trap and Skeet
finishing 4th in Skeet and 9th in Trap.

The 1996 Atlanta games were a big one for the American Team. For the first time,
women had their own Medal event, Double Trap. 17 year old Californian, Kim Rhode
bested the field for the Women's Gold Medal. In Men's Trap, Josh Lakatos and
Lance Bade tied for 2nd place. They settled the tie with a single barrel
shoot-off, sudden death, that went 28 rounds without a miss, in what is
considered the greatest Olympic shoot-off of all time, until Josh took the
Silver and Lance, the Bronze.

Kim Rhode medaled again, Bronze in Double Trap, at the 2000 games in Sydney
making her our only 2 time medalist. It was also in Sydney that Double Trap was
introduced for Men.

That brings us up to the 2004 Olympics, which will include both Trap and Double
Trap for Men and Women. The first Selection Shoot to choose the 2 men and 1
woman team for each discipline was held at the US Olympic Training Shooting
complex outside of Colorado Springs in October. The second half of the Selection
Process will be at Fort Benning during March.

The current leaders for the Olympic Team spots are, in Trap, Lance Bade
(Olympian in '96 & '00) at 244, and Brett Tagtmeyer at 242. Both are resident
athletes at the USOTC. They are followed by the US Army?s Brett Erickson
(Olympian in '96) at 241.

16 year old Alabama Junior Shooter, Collyn Loper leads Women?s Trap at 237
followed by Army?s Joetta Dement at 235. Women?s Double Trap has Kim Rhode (96
Gold, '00 Bronze) at 279 leading Joetta Dement by 10 targets.

In Men's Double Trap, Army's Brett Erickson (Olympian in '96) is leading Texan
Glenn Eller (Olympian '00, he was 18) 291 to 289. They are followed by 17 year
old Junior Josh Richmond at 285. Josh is one of my shooters and trains with the
Youth Development Shotgun Team at the North Mountain Bunker in Pennsylvania. His
performance at the Fall Selection Shoot won him appointment to the National
Team.

Olympic events are short by American standards. In Trap, 125 targets are shot
and then the top 6 shooters compete in a 25 target final. This occurs over 3
days of 50 targets, 50 targets, 25 targets and final. In Men?s Double Trap, 150
targets (3 sets of 25 pair) are shot all in 1 day and then the top 6 shoot a 50
target final.

The Women shoot even fewer targets. Women?s Trap is 75 targets and a 25 target
final and Women?s Double Trap is 120 (3 times 20 pair) targets and a 40 target
final.

Currently, the scores shot in the final are added to the scores of the match to
determine the winner and places.

There is a movement to make the Clay Target Sports more dramatic for television
viewers that would cause the present final to be a semi-final and then have #1
and #2 shoot off head to head for Gold and Silver and #3 and #4 to shoot off for
Bronze. I think the current finals are terribly dramatic but following lead
changes would be complicated for television.

The 2008 Olympics will be held in China and the 2012 Olympic games may very well
be held in New York City. That decision will not be made until July of 2005. New
York City does have a very active Bid Committee, "NYC 2012", that is heavily
engaged in planning for the games and promoting their selection. If chosen, they
will hold the shooting sports at the Police Academy Shooting Range on Rodman's
Neck Peninsula in the Bronx's Pelham Bay Park. Three full Bunkers and Skeet
fields will be built, each equipped with electronic display capabilities to
enhance the spectator experience.

The new Pelham Bay Olympic Shooting Center has been designed in collaboration
with the NYC Police Dept. which will operate the facility after the games.
Hopefully they will remain available for amateur and civilian competition.

I am really excited about the possibilities of the Olympic Games coming to NYC.
I think it would be a great shot in arm for International Shooting here in the
Northeast. The host country also gets additional quota slots for athletes to
compete in the Olympics, that too should open the doors to let more shooters
participate.

The Olympics and the Olympic traditions are important because they are not
reserved for some special class of devinely gifted athletes. They can be
achieved by most any shooter with the requisite desire, persistence, commitment,
and support. I know that every Olympian and hopeful mentioned in this article
started shooting in a grass roots program. Josh Richmond is a perfect example. 4
years ago he joined a local 4-H Shotgun Club. He then worked his way into ATA
Registered Shooting and made All-American as both a Sub-Junior in '02 and a
Junior in '03 and now is competing for a spot on the USA Olympic team, shooting
against the best in the nation for a chance to shoot against the best in the
world, a chance to be a part of the tradition.

Young shooters who are interested in learning how they too can become active in
International & Olympic Shooting can access the USA Shooting website,
www.usashooting.com. Click on "Do you have Olympic Aspirations".

The performances of Rhode, Loper, Eller and Richmond indicate that young
shooters can be competitive in Olympic shooting.

As Kim Rhode says, "Dreams do come true."