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August 18, 2004 9:50 am

Arizona shooter hits running targets

By STEVE RIVERA

Gannett News Service

MARKOPOULO, Greece - Adam Saathoff is tied for second after Wednesday's first round of Olympic 10-meter running target competition.

Previous Olympic experience - in 1996 and 2000 - is helping him keep focused.

``That's the hard part, mentally preparing yourself for this,'' said Saathoff, a Tucson, Ariz., native and Sierra Vista resident. ``We only get 20 seconds between shots. If you get a bad shot, you only have 20 seconds to get rid of the bad thought and get ready for the next shot.''

He is tied at 294 points with Germany's Michael Jakostis after taking 30 shots in the slow target portion of the event. Germany's Manfred Kurzer leads at 296.

There's still a lot of shooting to be done,'' he said, downplaying his first-day success.

He returns to the Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre Thursday for the fast-moving target portion of the competition. If he is among the top six overall finishers (combined scores) he'll advance to the finals in a 10-shot final.

``I just felt strong. When I was warming up I had a good feeling that I'd be good,'' he said. ``Things looked and felt positive.''

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