Military Olympians

Anti falls one spot short of advancing in rifle event

BEIJING—When Mike Anti missed for the sixth and final time late in his match Friday, he knew he probably had lost any chance of earning an Olympic medal in the men's 50-meter rifle prone competition.

"After that shot, a 9.9 out on the right, I had a gut feeling that one would take me out of the final," said Anti, a major in the Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Ga.

Anti was correct. On a windy day at the Beijing Shooting Range that made shooting difficult, Anti finished in ninth place with a total score of 594, just missing the eight-man final by one position.

Matt Emmons of the U.S. went on to finish in second place. The gold was won by Artur Ayvazian of the Ukraine.

Anti, 44, and competing in his fourth Olympics, won silver four years ago in Athens in the 50-meter rifle three event competition. He said following Friday's match that this would probably be his last Olympics.

"I would say the chances of me trying for another Olympics are pretty slim," he said. "It's probably time to start another career and maybe look to the future to see if there is something else in this sport."

Anti said he was a little tight in the first half of his match, when he missed four shots. He then began shading, a technique that helps adjust to windy conditions. He went through more than 2 1/2 rounds missing just one shot to get himself back into position to make the eight-man final before his final misfire.

Anti was one of three members of the Fort Benning unit that competed on Friday. Pfc. Vincent Hancock, a strong medal contender in skeet, led after the first day of qualifying with a score of 73. The competition will conclude on Saturday.

In men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol qualifying, Staff Sgt. Keith Sanderson was in a three-way tie for second with a score of 289. Leonid Ekimov of Russia was in the lead with a score of 291. That event also will conclude on Saturday.

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Bob Berghaus writes for the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times.