OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Brickell stays positive despite skeet exit

By Sportsbeat staff, London 2012

GREAT Britain shooter Richard Brickell was upbeat about his London 2012 Olympic experience despite failing to qualify for the final of the skeet.

CLOSE: Richard Brickell finished joint tenth and missed out on qualification by two points

The 36-year-old missed out on a top-six place by two points, shooting 24, 22, 23, 25, 24, and scoring 118 over two days to finish in a respectable equal tenth place.

He insisted that he was happy with his performance, and was spurred on by the presence of the supporting crowd – who don’t usually turn out for shooting events.

“I am really pleased with my performance,” said the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion. “I needed a good set of scores on the board and I got them.

“The light was good and it helped. You could see the bright orange clearly against the sky background.

“I knew I had to shoot in a controlled manner. You could hear the crowd through the ear mufflers. We are not used to something like that. I cherish it.

“A home Olympics is an once-in-a-lifetime experience – my two-year old son Oliver already wants to shoot. He has a gun, but it is only plastic.”

Fellow skeet competitor Rory Warlow, who also finished tenth on 118 points, after shooting 24, 24, 22, 25, 23, agreed that crowd was a great improvement for shooting.

But he knew that he had no complaints about not qualifying for the final, missing too many important shots.

“The crowd didn’t affect me,” said the 22-year-old from Plymouth. “Anyone will tell you they don’t take a lot of notice when they’re concentrating. A good competitor can live with distractions.

“It was great to hear them cheer for me. You don’t get that a lot in our sport, especially in the UK. I’m not disappointed with my performance.

“This year I haven’t been on my best form. This is quite a good score and it’s my first Olympics, so I’m pretty pleased with myself.

“My score was slightly below my average, but everyone’s here is slightly below. It’s the Olympics, it happens.”

© Sportsbeat 2012