first time i have watched air-rifle. an extreme sport. completely depends on calmness and composure. quite interesting!
China just won the first Gold medal when a Russian athlete who was leading loses her calm by a tiny bit and misses her last of 10 shots.
I watch the game too and i at first I thought that Du Li has to settle for the silver but suddenly she was so consistent in her last few shots... Its a pity for the Russian athlete but i'm happy for the chinese...
i've watched it too =p, the russian lead since the beginning but the chinese made the difference in the end ... they are so.....calm LooL
damn you guys are so lucky... here in hk, we got nothing at all for the whole day....not even from the four sports channels we have.... and we wont get anything till like midnight, a fine choice of time, i must say
yeah. i too thought the Russian will win. but she messed up the last shot. she probably thought she will win it coz she had a .3pt lead. but wow, what a sport that requires extreme concentration, consistency and calmness. one need to be so mentally strong. but i am not sure if i would spend a long time watching it though, not much actions...
quite similar quality required in archery as well. Remember how the korean trains their archers? hehehe Our canadian CBC is showing synchronized diving, what a st--id sport. As much fun as watching synchronized sneezing The later would still be more interesting to watch
I was really shocked by how the russian give away in the last shot ... i thought she will win but not ..the last shot was 9.7 for the russian and 10.6 to the chinese (if i remembered) but like i saiid ...it's too slow for me LoL and too calm
I switch to French channels to watch the Olympic Games - watching swimming, judo, table tennis, etc. It appears to me the French is showing more than the English. I also watch the American channels - NBC, but still unable to catch badminton.
Yeah! Air Rifle! As a not-very-accomplished Air Rifle shooter, I'm happy to say that the Women's 10m event is always the first to take place at every Olympics. And all of you are right: it requires total calmness, absolute composure and is about the most inherently boring sport in the world. Training sessions are composed almost entirely of dry firing, ie. simulation of the actual shooting process but without the pellets, and repeated 40-50 times. The actual competition requires 40 shots within an hour, which sounds easy but is absolutely tiring. I was with the school team for 6 years and the most memorable things I remember from my training sessions were 1)gossiping with teammates about our coach cum teacher in-charge who was an absolute b**** and 2)being immensely tired after every training session 'cos they were such brain drains. By the time you get home, you feel like flopping down on the bed and dying even though physical strength is not the biggest factor in the sport. On a lighter note, the feeling you get when you shoot well is like breaking a world record, winning an Olympic gold and striking lottery all in one, multiplied by ten (note that I've never done any of the above).
No, no, the most boring sport in the world is SMALL BORE! Yes I've shot both *snooze*, being semi-somnolent is almost an advantage in that sport to help to shot smoother.
what stuck in my head is how absolutely *COOL* those shooters are in between shots. they all have their own way to keep calm. ironically, the Gold medalist chose to continue aiming her rifle at the target. i see that similar to the preparation for a badminton service, an extended service preparation period is considered a no no in badminton but it certainly worked for her. also, they appears to be in still-frame mode on tv, but in fact, they are just there aiming...
The problem is that there's no time restrictions in between shots besides the strength in your arms/back/legs. Breathe, aim, breathe (breathe x 10), stop breathing, shoot, breathe x 20, stop breathing, shoot, breathe x 30, stop breathing, shoot, repeat. Snooze.
national channels France2 and france3 are showing The OG 24h/24 ... they said they will pass badminton on tv but i've seen nothing ='(((
unfortunately..ive never seen this sport played b4...as it hasnt been shown on tv in vancouver...or perhaps i just missed seeing it myself...but i do want to watch it...it seems quite interesting
Why do the shooters lay down? Is it to keep them in the same posture so they are still? Just to make the sport more interesting, all shots are to be taken from various poses taken from the film "Zoolander", very loud heavy metal music to be played like "pass the parcel" and no notification of when it starts back up again to be given to the contestants. Mascots are to be included to put off the opposition by means of shouting, klaxons, letting off firecrackers etc. at times when the pressure from these other "NEW RULES" don't add enough pressure. Fair enough it would change the entire sport but it would make it more interesting to watch All contestants in various poses taking shots in between loud musical head rot and being abused by huge fluffy animals!
Although the competitors patience and control are impressive, I think it pales in comparison to the patience and control of military snipers. They can lie absolutely still for days just to wait for the one perfect shot! Now that's insane!
Or create a new event where the competitors lie at each end of the shooting field... and try to hit eachother the most times with paintball-like ammunition within a short time frame! That would certainly add some pressure to the mix, let alone some great entertainment for spectators and television.
