TargetTalk

mikeschroeder wrote:Hi

Serious question. How many spectators are we talking about watching an air rifle match indoors?

Air Pistol?

Smallcore?

Outdoor trap shooting etc, couldn't temporary bleacher be built?
Mike

Serious answers

Number of spectators- thousands.
And this when the venues have not been 'convenient' to get to. Most spectators at Olympics get a day'pass' to the Olympic competitions, which includes transport between Olympic venues - even when shooting is in the general area of the overall Olympics it still has not been 'central' (e.g. Sydney was so far out from the main venues that it was effectively a one-day trip by itself).
While shotgun is by far the best attended (with the most seating provided) - it is fairly straight-forward to the casual spectator - the 10m, 25m and 50m Finals can also draw capacity crowds. As an aside, all that funny business with decimal scoring for Finals makes sense when it is put up as an on-line, real-time display.
Don't forget TV - as with all the Olypic sports, the host broadcaster puts shooting out live; if your local station does not put it on line, that is their decision. HINT: don't wait 'til 2008 to complain that there is no coverage from Beijing - start agitating NOW

Temporary bleachers - yep that's how it was done for Atlanta and Sydney (Barcelona, shotgun only).
But there are a lot differences between an Olympic range and your garden-or-average range; it's not just the number of targets available.

Regards

Spencer

Thanks Spencer

Sounds like the Olympics is a completely different deal than most (if not all) other shooting championships.

It sounds to me like the concept of a gun club just taking over an Olympic gun range to use for itself is not likely. I think that in the case of air pistol and air rifle (smallbore too??) the idea of taking the Olympic targets to a newly built range in another state and having an instant international shooting venue say two weeks after the Olympics is about the best we can do. What statewide club wants to pay to heat and cool a spectator area for a measley 1,000 specators, much less 10,000?

Is the smallbore venue usually indoors or outdoors?

The shotgun equipment could be moved after the Olympics also. On the other hand, building temporary large bleachers behind a trap or skeet range isn't as big a job as putting this stuff up inside.

Mike
Wichita KS

mikeschroeder wrote:Thanks Spencer

Sounds like the Olympics is a completely different deal than most (if not all) other shooting championships.

It sounds to me like the concept of a gun club just taking over an Olympic gun range to use for itself is not likely. I think that in the case of air pistol and air rifle (smallbore too??) the idea of taking the Olympic targets to a newly built range in another state and having an instant international shooting venue say two weeks after the Olympics is about the best we can do. What statewide club wants to pay to heat and cool a spectator area for a measley 1,000 specators, much less 10,000?

Is the smallbore venue usually indoors or outdoors?

The shotgun equipment could be moved after the Olympics also. On the other hand, building temporary large bleachers behind a trap or skeet range isn't as big a job as putting this stuff up inside.

Mike
Wichita KS

The Olympics range stays in 'Olympic mode' operation until the Paralympics is over.
The extra spectator seating needed is hired - interestingly, on some of the sections used at Sydney I could make out the Atlanta logo under the fresh paint.
The concept of a gun club just taking over an Olympic gun range to use for itself is not out of the question, it is just that the practicality of this is not planned into the design. A typical clause in the Olymic contract with the OCOG runs along the line of 'venue will be used for sport after the Olympics'. A cynic might suggest that bulldozing a venue and using the resulting field as a site for boomerang throwing would comply with this requirement.

The 25m and 50m ranges are 'outdoor'

Spencer

What the contract says and what actually happens bear very little relationship to each other. Particularly since the IOC does very little to enforce the contract.

My money says that IF New York wins the 2012 bid, they use the range for the Olympics, the Paralympics, and maybe a World Cup. Then the police probably toss the sport shooters out.

I could be wrong - I know the range in San Bernardino that I occasionally shot bullseye at was a joint police/shooting club operation - but I'm not betting that way. Not in NYC. Though I'd love to lose.

I still think the best option is for USAS to see if they can get the USOC to stipulate that if the facility becomes unavailable for further sport use, the targets get turned over to USAS. Which should then be using them to support another range or three.

Mike McDaniel wrote:........
My money says that IF New York wins the 2012 bid, they use the range for the Olympics, the Paralympics, and maybe a World Cup. Then the police probably toss the sport shooters out.

I still think the best option is for USAS to see if they can get the USOC to stipulate that if the facility becomes unavailable for further sport use, the targets get turned over to USAS. Which should then be using them to support another range or three.

Hi Mike

For the first part, I am a cynic, but I would bet on the Olympics, paralympics, and then its over.

I think it would be best to change the way the contracts are written, and have the range equipment moved immediately after the Olympics. From Atlanta, when the city of atlanta finally decided to dump the range, the range equipment was obsolete anyway. From my understanding, the paralymics are immediately after the Olympics, and I would include that in the after the Olympics.

Mike
Wichita
I'm a pessimist, but I'm always pleasantly surprised.

mikeschroeder wrote: I think it would be best to change the way the contracts are written, and have the range equipment moved immediately after the Olympics.

If there was no intention of keeping the range running after an Olympics then surely they would just hire the target equipment from Sius Ascor rather than buy it.