Published on 16 Aug 2008
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Final – SCHUMANN grabbed his fifth Olympic podium, and found a successor
Marco Dalla Dea
Three times Olympic Champion SCHUMANN placed second at the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol final, grabbing his fifth Olympic final. He was followed by his younger teammate REITZ, who followed SCHUMANN by only 0.2 points. Gold went to PETRIV of Ukraine, who placed in first with 0.7 points of advantage on the others. <i>“I am an Olympic Champion, now</i> – said PETRIV – <i>I hope I will have time to solve a problem: I want to get married!”</i>
Ralf SCHUMANN of Germany grabbed his fifth Olympic medal at today’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Final. The Olympic Champion of Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 ended up on the podium in second place, winning Silver behind the PETRIV of Ukraine.
SCHUMANN, 46-years old, six times Olympians and 52 times World Cup medallist, came up with his fan’s expectations, playing an excellent final round and climbing up from the fifth place he had after the qualification series. “Anything can happen in this kind of final – said SCHUMANN after the round – You can go up three places, or down three places. You just have to do your best.”
The German champion shared the podium with a new face of the international shooting, his 21-year old teammate Christian REITZ, who finished in third place only 0.2 points behind SCHUMANN. “It’s good to have Christian up on the podium with me – commented Ralf – It’s great for both of us to have medals. The dream we had in Germany has come true. I have found a so-called successor, even if I am not too old. I am 46, and I will keep on going. London 2012 is not that far!”
Gold went to Oleksandr PETRIV, a 34-year old Ukrainian shooter who played his master final today, climbing from the fourth place to the first thanks to four, excellent, final series. He had entered the final round with a qualification score of 580 points, firing 200.2 points in the final, and totalizing a golden score of 780.2, a new Final Olympic Record.
“Finals are usually my sticky point – commented PETRIV at the press conference – I don’t usually shot that well in finals, but today I learned from my past mistakes, and performed well”.
“I have been shooting for 23 years, now. And I spent most of this time at the shooting range. – added PETRIV – Some of my colleagues considered me insane, but I don’t think that time was spent in vain. My friends keep asking me when am I going to get married. Now that I have achieved my dream, I will try to solve this problem too…” concluded PETRIV smiling.
Tables turned more then once during today’s Rapid Fire competition. The first three qualified, EKIMOV of the Russian Federation, SANDERSON of the USA and BONDARUK of Ukraine, slid down in the placements, finishing in fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
SANDERSON, 33, had walked into the final as first qualified with a new Olympic Record of 580 points “It was my first time at the Olympics – commented the American pistol shooter – obviously I was little bit nervous, that’s probably a big understatement. I really started loosing control and my sense of the time. I though I was running late every series.”
SCHUMANN, 46-years old, six times Olympians and 52 times World Cup medallist, came up with his fan’s expectations, playing an excellent final round and climbing up from the fifth place he had after the qualification series. “Anything can happen in this kind of final – said SCHUMANN after the round – You can go up three places, or down three places. You just have to do your best.”
The German champion shared the podium with a new face of the international shooting, his 21-year old teammate Christian REITZ, who finished in third place only 0.2 points behind SCHUMANN. “It’s good to have Christian up on the podium with me – commented Ralf – It’s great for both of us to have medals. The dream we had in Germany has come true. I have found a so-called successor, even if I am not too old. I am 46, and I will keep on going. London 2012 is not that far!”
Gold went to Oleksandr PETRIV, a 34-year old Ukrainian shooter who played his master final today, climbing from the fourth place to the first thanks to four, excellent, final series. He had entered the final round with a qualification score of 580 points, firing 200.2 points in the final, and totalizing a golden score of 780.2, a new Final Olympic Record.
“Finals are usually my sticky point – commented PETRIV at the press conference – I don’t usually shot that well in finals, but today I learned from my past mistakes, and performed well”.
“I have been shooting for 23 years, now. And I spent most of this time at the shooting range. – added PETRIV – Some of my colleagues considered me insane, but I don’t think that time was spent in vain. My friends keep asking me when am I going to get married. Now that I have achieved my dream, I will try to solve this problem too…” concluded PETRIV smiling.
Tables turned more then once during today’s Rapid Fire competition. The first three qualified, EKIMOV of the Russian Federation, SANDERSON of the USA and BONDARUK of Ukraine, slid down in the placements, finishing in fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
SANDERSON, 33, had walked into the final as first qualified with a new Olympic Record of 580 points “It was my first time at the Olympics – commented the American pistol shooter – obviously I was little bit nervous, that’s probably a big understatement. I really started loosing control and my sense of the time. I though I was running late every series.”