10m Womens Air Pistol News     

Pistol sharp Forder shoots for Bronze...

Story: Paul Dicker, Photo: Anthony Johnson

Queenslander Annmarie Forder capped an emotional week by snatching a bronze medal today with her final shot in the 10-metre air pistol event.

It is Australia's first medal in the event and the second in pistol since Pattie Dench won a bronze in sport pistol in Los Angeles in 1984.

Extroverted 22-year-old Forder appeared to have blown her medal chances with a trio of low scores midway through the 10-shot fnal. With two shots remaining, the Southport shooter was in sixth spot but a 10.4 and a 10.5 for a total of 484 lifted her into third spot.

Russian and world record holder Svetlana Smirnova needed to a 9.6 or better with the last shot to hang on to the bronze but the best she could do was a 9.2.

An ecstatic Forder turned and saluted the big crowd as she realised she had grabbed a bronze medal. ``It's awesome, absolutely awesome,'' the 98 Commonwealth Games gold medallist said after the final.

"I don't think I'll realise just what a thrill this is for a couple of weeks. I just want to get my medal and have a good look at it to make sure this is really happening."

Forder shot 385 to qualify in fifth spot but her 99 in the 10-shot final elevated her to bronze. China's Luna Tao won the gold with 488.2 from Yugoslavia's Jasna Sekaric on 486.5.

The past few days have been an emotional rollercoaster for Forder, who arrived at the Olympic village two days late after attending the funeral of her grandmother, Norma Bonayton. The Australian team immediately rallied around the Queenslander. Officials even allowed her to march with the Australian team at the opening ceremony, believing it would perk her up.

Forder had fleetingly thought about pulling out of the Games but admitted her grandmother would have kicked her butt to Perth and back if she had known. Forder had been particularly close to her grandmother, with whom she spent a lot of time while growing up on the Gold Coast.

The bronze medal was a triumph over adversity for Forder, who damaged her hand last year when she jammed it in a car door. And a few weeks ago, she was involved in a car accident but walked away virtually unscathed.

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Story: Andrew Capel

AFTER a tough two weeks in which she survived a car accident and lost her grandmother to illness, the Gold Coast’s Annemarie Forder won today Australia's first air pistol medal in 104 years of Olympic competition.

Her recent heartache turned to overwhelming joy as she grabbed a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol with her final shot in the competition.

Qualifying fifth for the final – an achievement in Australian pistol shooting in itself – Forder pulled off a remarkable medal win by producing a 10.5 with her last shot.

The 22-year-old's score propelled her above Russian world record-holder Svetlana Smirnova, who could manage just 9.2, and into the bronze medal position.

China's Luna Tao won gold with a total of 488.2 ahead of Yugoslavia's Jasna Sekaric (486.5) and Forder (484).

"This is unbelievable...beyond my wildest dreams," said Forder, who had slipped to sixth with two shots remaining.

"I thought I was out of it for a while and to get up and grab a medal is just awesome.

"I had to look twice at the scoreboard and I don't think I'll believe this for a few weeks."

Forder, a gold medallist at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, became just Australia's sixth shooting medallist in Olympic competition and had to overcome several mishaps just to make it to Sydney.

Apart from this month losing her grandmother and suffering shock from being involved in a minor car accident, she also overcame a serious hand injury which threatened her Olympic campaign.

Forder's right shooting hand was late last year trapped in a car door, which cost her several weeks of valuable competition.

"My coach wanted to wrap me in cotton wool before this event, but you can't really change who you are or what you do," she said.

"I've had a few hurdles to overcome, but I can't complain with this result.

"All the training and everything I've been through is well and truly worth it."

Forder, who lives at Southport, dedicated the medal to her mother Desiree and late grandmother Norma, who died last weekend.

She also paid tribute to Olympic men's trap champion Michael Diamond who gave her some valuable words of wisdom before her 10-shot final.

"Michael's been through the pressure before and told me just to keep cool, not to fight my nerves and just give it my best," she said.

"He said my best would be good enough and it was."

Forder, whose qualifying score of 385 out of 400 left her five points behind leader Tao, was the last Australian shooter to arrive at the Athlete's Village because of her grandmother's funeral.

But she became the first Australian in 16 years just to make an Olympic pistol final with Australia's only other pistol medal – for sport pistol – coming from NSW's Pattie Dench.

She won silver at the age of 52 at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Australia's other air pistol competitor today, Linda Ryan, shot well below her best, finishing 28th with a disappointing 375.

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Story: Bruce Wilson

Before she went out to shoot in her air-pistol final, Annemarie Forder felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Michael Diamond, right in the thick of defending his Atlanta gold medal in the trap.

"Just stay calm, stay relaxed, use your nerves to work for you," Diamond told the 22-year-old from Southport on Queensland's Gold Coast. "Win a medal and I'll buy you a beer."

Forder – despite one lapse her excited mother Desiree said later was typical – did just that. She kept her nerve, stayed calm and emerged with a bronze medal nobody had expected her to win. Except Forder herself.

As it happened, Forder acted as a trail-blazer for Diamond. Her unexpected medal sent a thrill through the whole Australian contingent and Diamond went out to his final shootout knowing that Australia were already on the medal board. The team was on a roll.

A tall and sturdy figure with eyebrow and tongue studs, Annemarie was watched throughout by Desiree and her father, Harold, who is a carpenter and joiner. The couple is separated, and watched their daughter sitting apart. Harold said he had been a rifle shooter over 1200 yards "more years ago than I want to remember."

Desiree is a C-class air-pistol shooter who goes to the range with her daughter. In turn, Annemarie drifted into shooting through a half-brother, Wayne Gould, who wanted her to take up rifle shooting. There seems to have been plenty of guns around the family, one way or another.

There is a good streak of the party girl in Forder. She lists among her hobbies Southern Comfort and she said she hoped the team coach would let her off the leash tonight so that she could indulge her hobby in the Olympic village. Earlier, she said she was going to hold Diamond to that beer. "Or maybe I'll make it a keg," she said.

Forder had already achieved her major ambition when she reached the eight-woman final. But she was egging the crowd on to get behind her, and after one 10.2 shot gave an exuberant "c'mon" sign to the gallery. It reacted accordingly, but Forder immediately lost the plot, and shot a very poor 8.3.

She said later she had been taken away by the fairies. "But they brought me back," she said, and she regained her composure with Diamond's admonitions still ringing in her ears. Use your nerve to your own advantage. "Of course you get the jitterbugs. But you've been training for this for years, to learn to control them. I said to myself, hey, you've waited four years for this. Get a grip."

And get a grip she did. Three weeks ago she was in a car crash on the Gold Coast. She had minor back injuries and the car was badly damaged. "No big deal. No worries," she said. You got the impression it could be her motto.

Desiree said she believed her daughter could have five or six Olympics in her. For now, this darkest of dark horses is going to take six or seven months off to try to restore a battered bank balance. Then, she said, her sights will be on Greece.