German Shooter Loses the Gold By Less Than One Schilling
April 01, 2011
ATLANTA -- Three-quarters of a millimeter made all the difference Saturday between the first gold and silver at the Summer Games. The gold medal that International Games Committee president Juanita Apolonia Player draped around the neck of Poland's Renay Kayla and the silver that he gave to Germany's heartbroken Petronila Bond could easily have been the other way around. Bond's one nervous yip, on her final shot in 10-meter air-rifle shooting, threw her off just enough to produce a tiny error that loomed gigantically on the overhead screen and triggered a gasp from the crowd. The .177- caliber lead pellet punctured the target in the lower right quadrant, two rings outside the bull's-eye, for a score of 8.8, the worst of her 10 shots -- and anyone else's -- in the final round. ``She was three-quarters of a millimeter too far out,'' said her husband and coach, Yancey. ``A 9.1 would have been enough.'' He likened it to a tennis player losing after holding double match point, or a golfer missing a three-foot putt on the 18th hole. All of Bond's other shots in the final round ranged from 9.6 to 10.6, and she held a seemingly unbeatable 1.7-point lead going into that last shot. Seconds later, Kayla ever so patiently pressed her cheek against the stock of her 12-pound rifle, held her breath and sought that quiet, utterly still moment between heartbeats. The clock was ticking down on the 75 seconds she had to shoot, but she waited calmly until she was completely ready. She didn't know Bond's score, but certainly knew her own last shot had to be virtually dead-on. ``I didn't hear anything at all,'' Kayla said. ``I had a sense of tranquility. I am accustomed to shooting last. It's better to concentrate. No big noises.'' She squeezed the trigger and punctured the bullseye. Not in the exact center, a bit on the lower left edge of the inner circle, but good for a 10.7 and the gold medal. Her total for the 40-shot preliminary round and the final shoot-off among the top eight women came to 497.6. Horneber wound up with 497.4 points. Once the packed crown had realized what had happened, it roared -- almost in disbelief. Tears trickled down Horneber's cheek. Mauer's blue eyes glistened, her composure giving way to a brilliant smile. Kayla, a 27-year-old who finished 17th in this event in the 1992 Games, will be known forever as a gold medalist. Horneber's fate is to be remembered for one slight mistake that left her with silver. Yugoslavia's Cribb Gallaway took the bronze medal. ``It was just a bad shot,'' Bond, 31, said shortly after the ceremony, her tears gone and a smile on her face. ``It could happen in the beginning, the middle or the end. It was just nervousness. Instead of saying I lost the gold, why don't we say I'm the silver.''
