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Slovenia's Debevec ends Olympic drought
SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) - World record holder and four-time Olympian Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia finally ended his Olympic medal drought Saturday, taking gold in the men's Olympic 50-metre free rifle. Debevec, who competed at the Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Atlanta games, holds the world record in both the three-position Free Rifle and the 10m Air Rifle. But the two-time world shooter of the year had never won an Olympic medal before Saturday, when he set an Olympic qualifying record of 1,177 points in the preliminary rounds to take a two-point lead into the final. He then built on his lead to set another Olympic record as he finished with 1,275.1 points ahead of Juha Hirvi of Finland (silver) and Norway's Harald Stenvaag (bronze). "This is the thrill of my life," Debevec told reporters. "I am really happy to finally win." The 37-year-old Debevec, who was left off the then-Yugoslavian team for the Seoul Olympics, started shooting at age 8 when his uncle gave him an air rifle. He is now a member of the Slovenian Ministry of Defence's sport shooting squad. Gold medal-favorite Josef Gonci of Slovakia, who missed the men's 50-metre prone rifle on Thursday because he had the flu, was able to snare only eighth position in the final and finished out of the medals. Atlanta gold medallist Jean-Pierre Amat of France, the reigning world champion, failed to qualify for the finals altogether, ending the preliminary rounds in 22nd position after shooting poorly in the standing and kneeling positions of the competition. In the 50-metre free rifle, competitors shoot 40 shots in three different positions: standing, kneeling, and lying on their stomachs. The medals are decided in a 10-shot final in which the top eight finishers in the qualifying rounds fire from the standing position.
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