Arizona shooter fades to seventh

By STEVE RIVERA

Gannett News Service

MARKOPOULO, Greece - Adam Saathoff ended his Olympic shooting career on a disappointing note, finishing in a three-way tie for seventh place in the men's 10-meter Running Target Thursday.

It's the three-time Olympian's highest finish, after finishing 18th in the 1996 Atlanta Games and 12th in 2000 at Sydney.

``I'm all right with it,'' he said. ``Finishing seventh is nothing to shake a stick at.''

But it was a letdown for the 29-year-old Hereford, Ariz., shooter after entering Thursday's round in second place with a 294 score in the slow-moving target round. He scored 281 in the fast-moving round but fell to seventh with a 575 final score. He was four points short of reaching the finals, which are limited to the top six.

``It was just one of those days where I just wasn't close enough,'' he said. ``I was a bit frustrated being so close to a medal, but I'm happy with what I accomplished. This is the highest finish ever by an American in the event.''

The gold-medal winner, Germany's Manfred Kurzer, broke the world record with a 590 (out of 600) score.

The sport will be eliminated after these Olympics, but Saathoff, a firefighter in neighboring Sierra Vista, said he planned to retire, regardless.``I'm officially done,'' he said.