USA Misses Finals in Women's 10m Air Rifle

[USA Shooting]

USA Misses Finals in Women's 10m Air Rifle
Caruso starts strong, but is ousted in tiebreaker

ATHENS – USA was without representation in Saturday afternoon's finals of the women's 10-meter air rifle competition, as both American shooters did not advance from the morning's qualifying round of the first medal event of the 2004 Olympic Games.

Emily Caruso (Fairfield, Conn.) narrowly missed a spot in the eight-woman final. She was part of a six-woman tie for the final three slots, but lost in the tie breaking procedure, which selects the advancing members by comparing their last series of shots. Her 97 on the final series was the lowest among the six in the tie.

“I’m not really sure what happened,” Caruso said. “It’s really disappointing to have come this close. I shot my first 30 really well, but unfortunately had those three nines in the last 10 that dropped me out of contention. If I would have shot them earlier, I would have made it in. But I would rather come in ninth, than in 29th.”

In what was Caruso’s first Olympic Games, Athens has been an invaluable experience for the 27-year-old Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center athlete. Although this was her only event, Caruso says that she is happy to have this competition under her belt and is now looking forward to the starting the next quadrennial.

“I saw how fast these last four years went and I’m sure the next will go the same,” Caruso said. “I will just have to be back in 2008.”

But as for now, Caruso plans on staying in Athens to cheer on her teammates and hang out with her parents who came in just a couple of days ago. When she heads home on the 23rd, Caruso’s first objective is to get back to work at Home Depot, where she is a cashier.

The U.S. women’s other air rifle shooter, Spc. Hattie Johnson, of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, tied for 14th with a score of 394. Although Johnson freely admits her inexperience at international competitions, she was happy with how things went at her first Olympic Games.

“I came into this match really focused and finally felt like I was prepared for it,” Johnson said. “I hadn’t been shooting the greatest in practice, so when I started putting things together at the Munich pre-Olympic camp, I was really excited.

“My hardest shots today were my first and last. My hand was shaking and I put the gun up and down a few times. I just finally thought, ‘This isn’t going to happen to me because I’m nervous. I’m going to pull it all together and shoot a 10.’ I had to work so hard on both of those shots that after the match I walked away exhausted.”

Johnson, originally of Athol, Idaho, says that this was one of her highest scores at an international event and even though it wasn’t enough to put her in contention, she smiles and adds, “I overcame a lot of things today, and just knowing I put it all out there, I can walk away happy with my performance.”

For more information on the U.S. Shooting Team, log on to www.usashooting.org.