BEIJING - Timing and rhythm completely deserted New Zealand shooter Graeme Ede in the qualification rounds of the Olympic men's double trap competition here today.
Ede finished 18th out of 19 starters, admitting afterwards that he'd struggled right from the start in his back-up event.
The 48-year-old Commonwealth
Games gold medallist fared better in his specialist single trap earlier in the week, but even then struggled with consistency, placing 20th out of 35 and hitting 114 of 125 targets.
He also had the consolation of an outstanding second day when he hit 49 out of 50 targets, a score matched only by Olympic record holder Alexey Alipov (Russia).
Over three rounds of 50 targets today, Ede managed a disappointing series of 38, 40 and 35 to total 113. Walton Eller (United States) topped the qualifiers with 145 from a possible 150.
Ede was one of only two non-specialists in the double trap, although he had qualified with 134 when he won the New Zealand championships in February, and 136 was good enough to make the top six and earn a spot in the final.
"It wasn't outside the my realm of capability to sneak in on a really good day," Ede said. "But it's a specialist event, and I'd sort of put all of my eggs into the training basket of the other event."
Ede said once timing and rhythm deserted a shooter, especially in the double trap, it was hard to recover.
"It's just a rhythm you get into - it's bang, bang... bang, bang. If you can't shoot to that rhythm, it's just a bit harder," he said.
Ede, who runs his own agricultural contracting business in Christchurch, said not many Olympic-level shooters juggled a job with their shooting commitments.
"The others are professionals, they shoot 60,000 targets a year training. That's the thing, all the other people in the room here don't do anything else.
"I have to go back home to work."
- NZPA
