Near misses for men Olympic rifle shooters in London

Men's rifle shooters Eric Uptagrafft and Mike McPhail fell just short of their dreams of achieving Olympic medals in London failing to advance to the finals in men's prone rifle.

Both shooters practiced at the Minneapolis Rifle Club in preparation for shooting in London — as did women Olympians Jamie Gray and Amanda Furrer, who will shoot in women's three-position rifle on Saturday.

According to USA Shooting, McPhail headed into a shoot-off to determine finalists' slots staying within the 10-ring on all five shots. But he missed the finals by three tenths of a point.
"I'm not disappointed with how I shot," said McPhail. "Of the 65 shots that I had, there's maybe only one that I'd want to shoot again. Shooting's no different than any other sport. If you want to be Super Bowl champion or Olympic champion you have to get the bounce and it didn't bounce in my favor today."

Uptagrafft, meanwhile, ended his medals bid with a 594 overall, one point off the pace to join the shoot-off.

In Saturday's women's event, shooters fire 20 shots at 50 meters each while prone, standing and kneeling, with an overall time limit of 135 minutes. Finals will be 10 shots standing within a time limit of 75 seconds per shot.

Jamie Gray