American Shooters are Gettin' With it!

Matthew Emmons of the USA won the Silver medal in Men's 50m Rifle Prone during the wee hours of my morning here in Florida. This is the third Olympic medal of 2008 for the Emmons couple (his wife Katerina already has a Gold and a Silver) and Matt will be looking for another one, come Sunday, when the Men's 3-Position Rifle event comes up.

Artur Ayvazian of the Ukraine won Gold, Emmons took Silver, and Australia's Warren Potent glommed the Bronze.

Emmons shot a better final round than the winner (104.7 vs. 103.7), but Ayvazian's 599 qualifying points to Emmons' 597 kept him on top. The Australian Potent did even better than Emmons in the final (105.5), but was just a tad weaker in his qualification scores.

American shooter Mike Anti placed 9th, with 594 out of a possible 600 in his qualifying round. His 594 total actually tied with five other shooters. Mike won Silver in Men's 3-Position Rifle in 2004, and will be looking to win another medal when it comes up on Sunday.

Shotgunner Vincent Hancock, who was 2005 World Champion in men's skeet at the tender age of 16, was at the top of the heap after the first day of Men's Skeet qualifications with a score of 73. His competition is really nipping at his heels, though... there's a four-way tie for both second and third places!

I don't know who the "talking heads" are expecting to win, but my money's on Hancock. I've been looking forward to this guy's Olympic performance for weeks. I only wish I could find some TV coverage so I could watch the action from home!