Posted on 07/18/2008 4:25:06 AM PDT by marktwain
Veteran German shooter Ralph Schumann, who is counted among the present day shooting legends, is looking to extend his feat in the Olympic Games that starts next month.
At the Munich World Cup this May, the 46-year-old bettered the world record of men’s 25-meter rapid-fire pistol from 788.8 points to 790.0 points. Before that he had held the record with 786.4 and 787.7 points.
“My main motivation is to always prove, not that I’m the best, but that I’ve practiced what I’ve learned to the best of my ability during the competition,” he said.
Born in Meissen in Saxony, Schumann was advised against practicing shooting because he was “too small”.
Turning point of his story came later when a schoolboy brought along an air pistol, with which he fired 10 shots. The group trainer commented “he’s standing there like a rapid fire shooter”.
Two weeks later, the 14-year-old Schumann was sent to the training centre for sport pistol.
“Then everything happened in a flash,” he recalled.
In 1981, Schumann won the national competition. One year later he debuted at the junior European Championships (ECH) in Rome and finished fourth after dropping from the first place due to his last series.
He failed to participate in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 as it was boycotted. For years later, the Seoul Games granted him a silver.
To protect his fingers, which are important for shooters, the auto mechanic later moved to Mercedes-Benz. He got the permission from company to receive the training in the afternoons while working in the morning.
To date, Schumann has raked in more than 40 gold medals from world championships and World Cups, as well as three from the Olympic Games.
“The one who has the best grip on himself at the range is the one who wins in our sport,” said the veteran athlete, once dubbed as “shooting machine. “And to have a grip on things in shooting means to be calm and to have yourself under complete control.”
Talking about rapid fire pistol shooting, Schumann said what was especially fascinating about it was that “you have no possibility to ‘put the gun down’ or to dodge a shot.”
“When the start signal is given, you have to endure to the end,” he said, adding those who never gave up were his role models in general.
“You have to persevere. No matter what happens,” he added. “I too got fed up with things about three times a week, but I made the choice myself and have chosen to take this path.”
Perhaps these words reflect his psychology when taking part in his fourth, or theoretically fifth, Olympic Games.
“If you can repeat the victory, that is an absolute feeling,” he had said before the Athens Games.
Not by me I always play up the fact to cub scout BB-gun shooters and their parents that shooting is an Olympic sport and we have many colleges in Florida that field shooting sports teams. Scholarship money being out there too. I am recruiting for the BSA/4H team that competes around the states in various shooting sports. We have many kids that have done well including several state champions.
This story would have a different ending now...
Turning point of his story came later when a schoolboy brought along an air pistol, leading to the dismissal from school for all the violent young males who dared to even look at the evil weapon.
“Turning point of his story came later when a schoolboy brought along an air pistol, leading to the dismissal from school for all the violent young males who dared to even look at the evil weapon.”
Wasn't always that way....Thank You.Thank Goodness.....
I’m training my granddaughters (#1 grandson is only 3 now) in smallbore rifle. Anyone know where one can obtain Olympic targets, range specs, and competition rules?
I love gun porn in the morning!
Nevada has schools, public schools that have shooting courses, .22 rifle training for the students. Yes, we are evil and backward but we like it that way.
I would imagine that competition shooters are the oldest competitors in the summer Olympics.
There are Florida colleges that have shooting teams? Do tell
What the heck is that?
http://www.issf-shooting.org/
This is the governing body for international competitions such as Olympics and World cups. There are lots of pdf’s of rules for different sorts of competitions. For a brief article with an overview of the areas available including photos of shooters in the latest gear look here:
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/shooting/story/2008/05/09/f-olympics-shooting-essentials.html
As a matter of fact the NCAA Rifle tournament was held up in your neck of the woods. It seems that there is a college on the banks of the Hudson that has some small interest in preserving at least some marksmanship among American citizens.
http://www.goarmysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11100&ATCLID=1409998&KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=11100&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=
Veteran German shooter Ralph Schumann and his .22 of choice. I like how the compensator throws up that little flame!
Some of the gear they have to wear looks funny.
One would not know it was a sport unless their was funny looking expensive gear to purchase in order to participate in it. That’s why soccer has never caught on in the US not enough gear involved to make it profitable. Even something like baseball look at the plethora of stuff a team needs to purchase to participate. You should see the prices of some of the firearms though makes the gear look cheap!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.