US puts 2 in the Finals for Women’s Skeet, RT misses Finals

[USA 'Shooting]

ATHENS – Teammates Connie Smotek (Lyons, Texas) and Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.) found themselves in a difficult position Thursday, as they were forced into a shoot-off with Hyon Ri, of the PRK, for the fifth and sixth positions in the women’s skeet finals at the Markopoulo Shooting Centre.

Fortunately, they weren’t forced to eliminate each other, as Smotek, a 1992 Olympian in women’s skeet, qualified first, Rhode, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s double trap, followed suit. They entered the final competition of the day, three-points behind the bronze.

But that is where they also stopped. Smotek missed three targets to fall into sixth, whereas Rhode missed two finishing in fifth. The two American’s walked away from the last women’s shotgun competition empty handed.

“It didn’t quite work out like I thought it would,” Smotek said. “I wasn’t aiming quite right and I just couldn’t get it back on track. It is very disappointing.”

Smotek, the first female shooting member of her 4-H shooting club in College Station, Texas, came in 25th at the ’92 Games in Barcelona, the last Olympics in which she attended. Rhode, on the other hand, has not trained for skeet in over a year. Rhode’s main event is women’s double trap, the event in which she took home the gold yesterday.

“I was hoping to win a medal in both events,” Rhode said after her fifth-place finish. “Otherwise, there isn't a reason for me to participate. But it is true I haven’t had much time to train in skeet. During the competition my fear was that my gun was going to fall out of position.

“But, above all, I'm happy,” she adds, “and I hope that in the next Olympic Games I will win the gold medal in this event.”

In other shooting action, Adam Saathoff (Hereford, Ariz.) found himself tied in second place going into today’s fast run qualification round in men’s running target. This round caught him off guard, however, and the three-time Olympian fell from the top of the leader board to eighth. Saathoff scored a 90 in his second series of 10, finishing with a 281 for the day and a 575 for the two-day event.

“During the middle 10 string, my shots started to get away from me,” Saathoff said. “I was focusing on my shot plan, and knew something wasn’t on like it should have been today. There is nothing I could have done differently. I just couldn’t get those shots back.”
Teammate Koby Holland (Dillon, Mont.) had a case of nerves in his first Olympic Games. Holland shot a slow run score of 281 yesterday and a fast run of 270 today. He finished in 18th place.

Events continue tomorrow with Sarah Blakeslee (Vancouver, Wash.) and Morgan Hicks (Roy, Wash.) competing in women’s 50m rifle, and Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.) and Mike Anti (Winterville, N.C.) shooting men’s 50m rifle prone.