Harbison’s Aim Not On Beam

American Rob Harbison says the pressure of shooting is like trying to walk across an I-beam extending between two buildings, 200 feet off the ground.

The beam beat Harbison.

The 23-year-old from Fallston, Md., lost the bronze medal in 10-meter rifle because his final shot was also his worst. The resulting 8.6 score dropped him from third to seventh in the field of eight finalists.

Harbison needed a score of 9.4 or better to win the bronze, but he wasn’t able to see the scoreboard and said that only added to the pressure.

“I thought I probably needed to shoot a really deep one and I was probably working a little too hard on that last shot,” he said.

Russia’s Artem Khadzhibekov won the gold medal. The silver went to Wolfram Waibel Jr., of Austria, and Jean-Pierre Amat of France won the bronze.

Khadzhibekov set an Olympic record with 695.7 points, breaking the mark of 695.3 points by Russia’s Juri Fedkin in Barcelona four years ago.

In air rifle, the shooters try to hit a target whose bull’s-eye is one-half millimeter wide.

The other American in the competition, Glenn Dubis of Bethal Park, Pa., was eliminated in the preliminary round, finishing 41st out of 44 shooters.

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Medalists / Shooting

MEN’S 10M AIR RIFLE

Gold: Artem Khadzhibekov, Russia

Silver: Wolfram Waibel, Austria

Bronze: Jean-Pierre Amat, France