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With the exception of Melissa Mulloy, all the US Olympic Shooting Team members arrived in San Diego Wednesday night safely, with no excitement or lost baggage. Melissa, a rifle team member, had electrical problems in her flight between Salt Lake City and San Diego and they had to return to SLC, to be greeted with ambulances and fire trucks, just in case.
At 7:00 that night we had our in briefing, what to expect and how to behave, and greetings from a number of celebrities via videotape, including Jay Leno and Bill Clinton. You can guess whose greetings were enjoyed the most. The funniest moment of the evening came when one of our briefers mentioned how lucky we were to be carrying guns into Australia, that even the US Security teams were not allowed to take their guns into the country. Someone in the audience cracked, "We ARE the security".
At 8:00 Thursday morning, we begin the process of the uniform issue, going from station to station getting fitted for hats, jackets, pants and shoes, and numerous other wearing apparel. They even had a beauty salon, where the girls could get their nails done, or quick hair style(I tried unsuccessfully to see if they could do something with mine). Finally after everyone had been to all the stations, including the one where we had to sign about 20 huge posters, to be given to all the big corporate sponsors. We settled down to the alteration shop to fix those things that just couldn’t be made to fit with standard sizes, and the process of eliminating all the unnecessary items to ship back home.
Next we had a small hop from San Diego to LAX, then the long flight to Sydney at 10.00 PM. Flight time was totally in the dark, with sun coming up just before we landed.
Going through Customs in Sydney was not too bad, since we all had our gun documents in order. Then it was off to the village getting all our accreditations officially processed and settled into our rooms in the village and trying to learn to navigate around this huge complex.
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The long plane ride, Jeanine Bowman, Bill Keaver, Bill Demarest. |
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Not a whole lot really going on yet, but we are getting into the swing of things. After the long flight, we did not really get settled into the village until 1:00 PM or so, then the long afternoon, forcing yourself to stay awake, so get your body adjusted to the time. Exploring the village and trying all the different types of food available in the Dining Hall are two favorites.
The next morning we all went to the range to check over the guns and equipment, to make sure everything arrived totally undamaged. Having determined that all was OK, those that could get squaded for practice, did. There is quite bit of wind here, so no one expects any scores to be phenomenal, unless a sudden stillness comes when the games begin.
I went off and tried to find the gunsmith building, which is in reality a tin building, i.e., tin wall and roof , with 2 roll up garage type doors for entry. Not near as fancy as the digs we had in Atlanta, but it will do. They have outfitted some benches with a some vises, and added a drill press and a grinder for dirty work. After a small wait for the manager to finish his tea, the building is finally opened, and Yea!, there is my big aluminum parts box, already delivered from the airport. (The shooters' guns had to go straight out to the range to be locked up in Weapons Control and I figured I would have to go drag my box from there as well). I piddled around with straightening my stuff, did a little work on a FAS trigger, and took a quick look about the nooks and crannies of the range. My Accreditation card (credentials) give access to all areas of the range, so I can go where I please, but I still have to stop at all the various check points and show my accreditation, to be allowed to go onward.
As people got through with their practice times, they caught the buses back to Village for more exploring and seeing old friends, and again staying up late enough to try to adjust to the jetlag.
This morning it was the same routine, out to the range and try to get some practice time in. Anschutz, Walther, Feinwerkbau, and RWS all showed up today and began setting up their gunsmith areas around me. More and more shooters are starting to show up, so there are constant greetings being given around the venue. It is really nice in a that even though there a few rivalries between individuals and countries, for the most part, International shooters are one big family.
I worked on a couple of guns and gear for different folks, as we waited for the arrival from Security of the parts and tools boxes for the factory gunsmiths. The Police had to open each box and inspect the contents to declare them safe. Of course, it was hard for them to really set up, since they were so busy being asked by various shooters to look at their gun for this or that problem.
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View of Olympic stadium, from the village entrance. |
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Buses bringing athletes into the village. |
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Road sign. |
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The decoration at the front of the shooting venue. |
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Another view. |
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One of the rooms in the Village, front to back, we get to keep the cool blankets. |
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Waiting for the team briefing to start, taking bets as who will be late. |
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Mike Anti and Dan Durben, looking down at Lloyd Woodhouse. |
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Jayme and Cindy thought the joke was really funny. |
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Ken Johnson, Josh Lakatos, Jean Foster. |
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Breifings, gotta love’em. |
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This is Scott in the gunsmith section, working on a FAS Rapid Fire gun. |