Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

THEGAMESFROM A MEDIAPERSPECTIVEby Tony de LaunayA fortnight before the Games were due to start theomens were not good. Exiting the tractor the port kneelocked and the excruciating pain started. A week laterand that well known surgeon Arthur Oscopy wasprobing and nibbling to repair a “bucket handle tear”in the cartilage (my GP’s description), leaving me witha photograph of the offensive shred to boot. Thegalling thing is that the starboard knee was actuallythe one originally scheduled for a wash-out treatment.Be that as it may, three days later, stick and reportingnotepad in hand, it was off to the ranges and theinevitable moniker “Hopalong”, courtesy of oneDouglas Watts.My dual role, press hack and volunteer media liaisonofficer for the three Bisley shooting bodies, wassomething which seemed to cause a degree ofuncertainty in Manchester’s accreditationbureaucracy. However, it did not matter when youknow more about the geography and where yourfriends are – and when you are doing an impressivelame duck imitation. When the shooting got going inthe hands of the Bisley organising crew it wassmoothness personified.The media centre was in the Lord Roberts building, atthe top of the stairs in an air gun hall that could haveprinted the papers as well as providing shelter for thecorrespondents. The centre was run by Charlie andWes, with panache and everlasting good humour;nothing was too much trouble for them. Among theirsupport staff was Simon Dixon doing a marvellousmobile interviewer job, armed with recorder,constantly up-dating on-line quotes and non-quotesfrom winners and others for the M2002 web site. Aswell as pay as you go phone points for laptop userswe got tea and coffee – and hot water to make it with.And thank you to Cadbury’s for the never endingsupply of chocolate chip and orange peel cookies.What was significant was that as well as the Telegraphand Times, many other papers took more than just apassing interest. Broadsheets and tabloids fed off theservice provided. Jonny Saunders of Radio 5 Live dida magnificent job with his roving reporting andgenuine enthusiasm – and, like the others, awillingness to listen and learn. A special word too forMike Sinclair of the Press Association. His constantstream of news, as well as sports results, onto thenewswire was the source of much of the well informedand positive comment in the papers. Theoverwhelming reaction of the reporters present wasentirely favourable to the sport, and they were asappreciative as any of Mick Gault’s triple gold successin the pistol events. So, on to some of the interestingmoments – in no particular order.My personal favourite had to be standing next to someof the correspondents up on the shotgun ranges, anddiscussing with them the chances of the youngestcompetitor in the women’s individual double trapevent, admittedly with a sense of wondering disbeliefas she smashed one after another of the pink disks.“Do you mind” said the lady next to me, “that is mydaughter you are talking about”. Jan Kerwood was amum in agony at that moment, not knowing whetherto watch or hide; I know she watched while proudfather Dan Kerwood stood there transfixed at thedrama unfolding before him.When the final clay burst like a pink powder puff Janwas gone, selling the security guards a succession oftwinkling dummies that had them grasping at thinair, reaching daughter Charlotte a split second beforeIan Coley, the England coach. Ian had all of five yardsto travel; Jan had covered thirty! Dan was left gulpingat the top of the hill. That result got top column inches.So what about our Mick Gault, a man with a missionthrust upon him. The expectations were almostgrossly unfair after his wondrous performance to bagfour golds in Kuala Lumpur. That he got another inthe air pistol pairs was down to grit, nerve, hisshooting partner Nick Baxter and a touch of lady luck(richly deserved and we all need some). Thestupendous final of the air pistol individual title, inwhich he went from fourth to first in the last four shotsfor victory by a fraction of a point, had to be seen andheard to be believed. That was a noisy, knowledgeablecrowd rooting for their champion - they certainly hadbeen given something to cheer for.The cameras were everywhere but not much footage made it ontoour screens. (Photo: David Pollard)58His third gold in the 50m pistol was as convincing adisplay as you could wish to see, garnering a newrecord by a whole three points, and the whole was