cz452shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Sparwood, BC
As some of you may have seen, about a week ago there was a thread started about myself competing in the Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune, India. I mentioned in one of the last posts that I would post a report of my trip. So after getting caught up on some other items on my agenda, I finally got a chance to finnish up my report - so here it is! A bit long overall but may give you a bit of an idea to understand how the games went 
Click on Thumbnais to see larger picture.
India Trip - Commonwealth youth games 2008
October 5th: I flew out of Comox, BC at approximately 12:00 in the afternoon where I departed to Toronto. The flight took about 5 hours, with a stop in Calgary, Alberta before landing. From the airport in Toronto I was escorted to our hotel - The Crown Plaza, about 10 minutes away where we would stay for the next two days. I was roomed with another rifle shooter, Michael Goodchild during that time.
October 6th: We had a media session, culture session and clothing fitting time during this day. We were given a brief outline on how to handle the media by John Bauer (son of Johnny Bauer - goalie for Toronto maple leafs hockey organization several decades back). We were also given some information about the Indian culture by a coach who has resided in India for much of his life. We also had a meeting and supper for all athletes, mission staff and other members who were involved in the Commonwealth Games Association. Our flag bearer was announced (Jessica Perry) and a speech was given by one of Canadians greatest athletes, Miranda Orlando who recently competed in the Olympic games, winning a gold medal for her country in swimming and breaking a world record.
October 7th: This is the day when Team Canada began the long journey to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates and then to Mumbai India from there. The 13 and a half hour flight was rather exhausting, especially considering I did not get any sleep but in the same way it was exciting that we would soon be arriving at our destination. We departed from Toronto at about 10:00 in the morning, arriving in Abu Dhabi the next morning. One problem that occurred was that some of the forms for transportation of our firearms were not completed in time meaning that our coach and team manager as well as our firearms would have to stay in Toronto until the proper permits were handed out.
October 8th: One of the biggest shocks there for me was getting out of the airplane and for the first time breathing in the hot humid air. We arrived there at 7:00 in the morning and at that time the temperature was already 36C. The humidity was rather shocking and very surprising. Took a while to get used to anyway. The airport in Abu Dhabi was much different from any other airport I had been in with a unique design in the middle. We stayed there for about 2 hours before we left for the 3 and a half hour flight to Mumbai. One cool thing I found flying over the UAE (United Arab Emirates) was its desert-like terrain. Then again, with average temperatures for a good part of the year well over 35C and often over 40C it doesn't surprise me. The visibility throughout this area of the world is very poor, much worse than in North America. After landing in Mumbai we would take a 6 hour bus ride to Pune and although it is approximately only 150km away, traffic was extremely busy as we were in rush-hour traffic and the roads are not very good. Looking out the window of the bus it became very clear to me just how different it is from Canada, and how lucky we are to have shelter, and food, etc. The majority of the dwellings were very rundown and garbage was littered everywhere. Transportation was very different also. In the streets in Mumbai there are no specific lanes for traffic and for that reason cars are all over the roads, trying to get to their destination as soon as possible. Motorcycles were very common, as were these little three wheeled cars (rickshaws). Needless to say when we arrived at the hotel at around 9:00 at night I was extremely exhausted having not slept for over 35 hours. I grabbed a bite to eat and than slept
Arriving in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Air port
October 9th-October 11th. These days gave us a good chance to check out all the different venues including buildings for boxing, wrestling, swimming (didn't actually get a chance to look inside this one though), shooting, athletics, tennis, badminton, weightlifting, etc. The shooting facility was the main one I was interested in since I would be competing there in a couple of days. This was by far the nicest shooting range I have ever seen. With 80 positions for rifles, 80 positions for air rifles (on the second floor - above the small-bore .22 range) and electronic scoring for every position it will be a range for future world cups. Furthermore there was a separate building about 75 yards away for handguns (25m long with 50 positions). The skeet and trap range was also very close with many positions (several shotgun shooters however were a tad bit upset because of the garbage in the background creating a not so great backdrop). Construction was taking place about 200 yards in front of the range as well, creating a not so consistent backdrop. One small problem was that the whole games village was (and still is basically) been constructed during this time which would mean less pre-event training for us. That didn't exactly pose a problem for me because our firearms were still with our coaches (who by this time were on their way but wouldn't arrive in time for one of the periods of pre-event training. I was however quite confident in my position and was perfectly OK with only a day or two of training to get to know the range. When our firearms and coaches finally arrived we were all able to do a bit of training prior to the event. Another problem for me during this time was that I felt a bit sick (sore throat and headache mainly). I still shot my pre-event training during this time however and it felt pretty good. Learning to shoot on the electronic targets and becoming familiar with the lighting were my main goals during this, not to actually practice my shooting. It was a bit disappointing to get sick before the competition for which I had trained hard for a long time but I was confident that on competition day it would disappear.
Rifle Range
Rifle Range
Crowd Seating in Finals Hall
Smallbore Range
Smallbore Range
Air Rifle Range
October 12th: The games begin! Opening ceremonies were held during the evening. Knowing however that I would be competing in two days and with a sore throat that seemed to be getting increasingly worse as the night wore on I opted to leave early and go back to the hotel and get some sleep so that I would hopefully get better before shooting. Unfortunately I missed out on some of the more “fun” performances after I left, as did the 20 or so other athletes from team Canada who left early but I was still happy with my decision as when I woke up in the morning was feeling much stronger. I was able to walk in with the rest of the team and with our flag bearer as well as observe the other countries make their debut so it was neat in that respect. Video cameras and media were evident pretty well everywhere throughout the stadium where the games ceremonies were being held. Equipment check was also held on the 12th which I found very interesting. Due to the high humidity in India, especially during the morning we found that some of our gear did not pass. The equipment machines for checks were very high end. They had electronic stiffness, and thickness checkers for the jackets, pants, boots, gloves and under-clothes as well as some different devices to check for overlap on the jackets (this time it wasn't just pull it as hard as you can until 100mm overlap occurs like the rules state but it would go only so far). Because I wear an "under armor" shirt as well as a shooting sweater the thickness on some parts of this did not fit (the elbows have the double layer for prone so I had to cut one of the layers away so that it would pass). I did not feel that this would hinder my performance in any way. Monica Fyfe (women’s 10m air rifle and 50m three position) and Michael Goodchild (men’s 10m air rifle and 50m three position) didn't fair so well however as Mike had to cut his sweater in the way I did as well and he had to cut part of his pocket away on his shooting jacket. Monica had to move in the buttons a bit and I believe she had to do something with her boots. I saw many shooters who had to cut their boots apart a bit or do other stuff like that. Maybe a bit disappointing for the shooters (I think a lot of shooters were upset because their equipment had been through numerous world cups, etc and had passed there) but it had to be done.
October 13th: The day before I shoot. Several of the shooting competitions were held during this day including Christine King (rapid fire pistol), Geoff Litwin (Shotgun - trap) and Monica Fyfe (10m air rifle). I decided to watch Monica Fyfe as I knew she had a good chance of winning a medal and this was the closest event to the 50m prone event I would be shooting the next day so I was anticipating that it would give me a good idea of would come in 24 hours time. Monica shot well with a 394 - a very respectable score (but would not quite match the Singapore shooter who shot an amazing score - very close to world record with a 398). I watched the Singapore shooter shoot 33 10's in a row before nerves got the best of her and she shot a couple of nines in her last string. An amazing performance none the less. I was coincidently sitting next to her coach during the competition and he was quite nervous for her but was happy about how well she was doing. He said that he really didn't expect her to shoot that well (he mentioned her average scores to be closer to about 392-396) but in the same way knew that she had a great shooting ability and had the potential to do extremely well. Monica on the other hand was having trouble with her knee (a reoccurring injury from gymnastics) during her last string - an injury that would also have an effect on her later in the games. She ended up shooting 3 nines in a row on her last 5 shots or so, as well as another one on her second last shot (which she believes were because of her knee) but still shot very well. I was feeling a bit better this day after seeing the Doctor, Navin (who I recently learned is also the doctor for the BC Lion’s organization). Over the past couple of days he had been getting me different lozenges and halls' for my throat and those seemed to help.
Air Pistol Match
October 14th: Woke up in the morning after getting about nine and a half hours of sleep or so and was feeling much better than that the previous couple of days. Overall I was feeling quite confident and ready to shoot. Got up at around 7:00 and headed off for breakfast where I had the norm' - a couple sausages, few pieces of bacon and a couple of pieces of toast. Maybe not something I would have every day at home – especially before shooting but we were limited as to what food choices there were. Headed off to the range about an hour and a half early to mentally prepare for the shoot. Was able to see what the wind was doing, etc (wind was pretty well non-existent throughout the shoot - one of the few days it had been which was for me a tad bit disappointing as I like to shoot in the wind). Temperature was like any other day in Pune, hot and muggy. We did have ceiling fans above us going when we were shooting so that cooled us down a bit (still pretty hot though wearing a shirt, a sweater and a full canvas jacket in 35+C weather!). Was able to have a good chat with some of the shooters, some of whom I had met on the previous training days on the range. At 10:00 we started the match. I shot about 16 to 18 sighters before starting, enough that I felt confident anyway that my sights were on and I was ready for the “real thing”. Usually I get a bit nervous at this time, when I go from sighting onto scoring but at this match it wasn't really bad at all. I think the reasons for this was: First of all I had trained for the event mentally, secondly because this was my first international match and no one had really high expectations of me doing really well and for that reason didn't really have too much to worry about regardless of what my results would be. My first 2 shots on scoring went pretty well (10.3's), I was calm for the most part (increase in heart beat a bit but that isn't too much to worry about and everybody has that to a certain extent). 3rd shot in was a 9.9, so less than 1mm away from being a 10. As was my fourth shot. Both were fairly close together so I moved my sight over. Shot a solid 10 but than my next shot was a 9.9 on the other side. Ended up shooting a 94 string, which was a bit disappointing but I knew that 4 shots could have gone the other way and it could have been a very good string so with that in mind I went and shot a reasonable second half of the match. Ended up with a 580, which was pretty good for me, definitely nothing to complain about at my first international shoot anyway. Considering I was fifth too and only 5 points off of first was something to be quite happy about as well. Finals got off to a rough start for me (lighting was also pretty terrible as they were having trouble getting consistent lighting for all the positions so for that reason turned the lights off completely, but than again it was the same for everyone so I can’t complain!) and didn't get much better. Nerves for me were a bit of problem throughout this with cameras out in front of you moving (although I really didn't notice these too much). There were also many people in the audience and cameras all around you. I don't think that posed too much of a problem for me I think it was just mainly the fact that with only 45 seconds to shoot there is not a whole lot of time to manage your nerves and settle in, and instead I found my self just shooting. Overall however it was a very good day and I learned a great deal about international competition and earned more experience along the way. I had one media person ask me a few questions but other than that not too much. I ended up being not too far away from earning a medal but I was still very happy with the end results
Mens 50M Prone
October 15th: My shooting had now officially ended. First thing I did was have a nice refreshing bottle of Pepsi. Was nice drinking that seeing as how I had been limiting my diet for quite some time for foods or drinks high in sugar content. In fact there were quite a few things I had to limit for the match so as much fun as it was to shoot it was also a bit of a relief for it to be over and get back to a bit easier lifestyle. I was able to watch some of the other shooters after I had completely finished as well which was neat (I found the trap and skeet interesting seeing as how I had never watched these events before. Geoff Litwin, team Canada's shotgun shooter ended up placing 6th in the trap and 7th in the double trap. He had a solid start on both of these events but a bit rocky finishes but was pleased with his results overall.
Mens Air Rifle Match
Womens 3P match
October 16-17: During these two days I tried to attend as many different venues as possible. It’s always neat to watch the most elite youth athletes in the world at their sports and when you can cheer on your own country its pretty special. The 100m men’s event was neat with the runners running under 10.4 seconds, and the 1500 runners around 4 minutes or less. The high jumpers are jumping over 2m - the highest was about 2.11 (that was pretty amazing seeing as how they are jumping about 7 feet high). The weightlifters are lifting about 130-180kg depending on the events, the badminton players are very elite and boxing was extremely exciting to watch. So overall it was really neat watching all the different events and cheering your fellow teammates on.
Athletics Stadium Entrance
Boxing
High Jump
October 18th: All the events had officially finished. Canada did extremely well, winning 26 medals total! We finished 5th out of the 71 countries competing so there wasn't anything wrong with that. Closing ceremonies were a bit too long to be completely honest. Most people had left before they were over which is understandable. The first hour and a half were all speeches and I found it very difficult to understand them. After that though they had some dances and after an hour or so of that they had some motto-cross which was pretty sweet (except for the fact that we had waited about 3 hours for this and when it finally came all the dancers and mascots that had come on prior were leaving and got in the way of us seeing so for the first part of it was pretty disappointing but once they left it was better). One other small problem we encountered was that the fireworks were right above us so all the debris and junk from them was falling on us - often fairly large chunks that would explode some more when they hit the ground so at time it was a bit dangerous so we used our chairs to protect us from being hit! We also went shopping earlier in the day which was a good culture experience. Despite the limited time, only about an hour of actual shopping, and the fact that much of my money had being stolen earlier during the week meaning I was limited as to what I could buy it was fun to pick up some souvenirs for decent price. It also gave us a chance to experience more of the culture of India.
October 19th: This would be our last full day in India before would be departing the next day. Team Canada was given the option of either going golfing or going shopping. Seeing as how I had already being shopping and had limited money left I opted to go shopping with our pistol shooter, Matt Hendry. He happened to be the only two athletes to go golfing, but six of the mission staff joined us. Traveling out to the golf course on the filthy roads and seeing very poor houses all round I was wondering what the golf course would look like. I was expecting something not so nice and was actually partially wondering if I made the right decision but after the thirty minute bus ride it all became clear. We traveled up to the top of a hill where we could see the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen. One mission staff that was with us who had golfed at different places all over the world commented that this course was as nice as any out there. When we arrived at the office we were offered many different drinks, cookies, etc. From there we were given our clubs, golf-carts, and furthermore we each got our own cadies! It was a beautiful (but hot) day on the golf course but the breeze cooled things down nicely and made for one heck of a fun day. Most holes were 300-550 yards. Definitely a high-light of my trip and the athletes who went shopping said it wasn’t very fun at all so it felt great to say “golfing was great!” to them!
On the Golf Course...
October 20th-21st: Departure day! The games were a ton of fun overall and a great experience but in the same way it would be nice to get back home. We left the hotel we were staying in at around 3:00 in the afternoon where I would travel for about 40 hours before getting back home. A very long time to travel overall, and a slight problem arose when I missed my flight in Toronto after our plane from Abu Dhabi got in late but we got that all squared away. I would have to say that my high-light of the day was getting to the Toronto airport and biting into a delicious double bacon cheddar cheeseburger. I didn’t realize after all those days in India just how much I loved the taste of meat and that hamburger was probably the most delicious meal I have ever had, especially after barely eating for 24 hours or so. I got home at around 7:00 on the night of the 21st. I really couldn’t have asked for a better trip and it brought with me many memories that I will have for the rest of my life!
___________________________________________________________
End of Report... Finally
Jordan
Click on Thumbnais to see larger picture.
India Trip - Commonwealth youth games 2008
October 5th: I flew out of Comox, BC at approximately 12:00 in the afternoon where I departed to Toronto. The flight took about 5 hours, with a stop in Calgary, Alberta before landing. From the airport in Toronto I was escorted to our hotel - The Crown Plaza, about 10 minutes away where we would stay for the next two days. I was roomed with another rifle shooter, Michael Goodchild during that time.
October 6th: We had a media session, culture session and clothing fitting time during this day. We were given a brief outline on how to handle the media by John Bauer (son of Johnny Bauer - goalie for Toronto maple leafs hockey organization several decades back). We were also given some information about the Indian culture by a coach who has resided in India for much of his life. We also had a meeting and supper for all athletes, mission staff and other members who were involved in the Commonwealth Games Association. Our flag bearer was announced (Jessica Perry) and a speech was given by one of Canadians greatest athletes, Miranda Orlando who recently competed in the Olympic games, winning a gold medal for her country in swimming and breaking a world record.
October 7th: This is the day when Team Canada began the long journey to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates and then to Mumbai India from there. The 13 and a half hour flight was rather exhausting, especially considering I did not get any sleep but in the same way it was exciting that we would soon be arriving at our destination. We departed from Toronto at about 10:00 in the morning, arriving in Abu Dhabi the next morning. One problem that occurred was that some of the forms for transportation of our firearms were not completed in time meaning that our coach and team manager as well as our firearms would have to stay in Toronto until the proper permits were handed out.
October 8th: One of the biggest shocks there for me was getting out of the airplane and for the first time breathing in the hot humid air. We arrived there at 7:00 in the morning and at that time the temperature was already 36C. The humidity was rather shocking and very surprising. Took a while to get used to anyway. The airport in Abu Dhabi was much different from any other airport I had been in with a unique design in the middle. We stayed there for about 2 hours before we left for the 3 and a half hour flight to Mumbai. One cool thing I found flying over the UAE (United Arab Emirates) was its desert-like terrain. Then again, with average temperatures for a good part of the year well over 35C and often over 40C it doesn't surprise me. The visibility throughout this area of the world is very poor, much worse than in North America. After landing in Mumbai we would take a 6 hour bus ride to Pune and although it is approximately only 150km away, traffic was extremely busy as we were in rush-hour traffic and the roads are not very good. Looking out the window of the bus it became very clear to me just how different it is from Canada, and how lucky we are to have shelter, and food, etc. The majority of the dwellings were very rundown and garbage was littered everywhere. Transportation was very different also. In the streets in Mumbai there are no specific lanes for traffic and for that reason cars are all over the roads, trying to get to their destination as soon as possible. Motorcycles were very common, as were these little three wheeled cars (rickshaws). Needless to say when we arrived at the hotel at around 9:00 at night I was extremely exhausted having not slept for over 35 hours. I grabbed a bite to eat and than slept
Arriving in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Air port
October 9th-October 11th. These days gave us a good chance to check out all the different venues including buildings for boxing, wrestling, swimming (didn't actually get a chance to look inside this one though), shooting, athletics, tennis, badminton, weightlifting, etc. The shooting facility was the main one I was interested in since I would be competing there in a couple of days. This was by far the nicest shooting range I have ever seen. With 80 positions for rifles, 80 positions for air rifles (on the second floor - above the small-bore .22 range) and electronic scoring for every position it will be a range for future world cups. Furthermore there was a separate building about 75 yards away for handguns (25m long with 50 positions). The skeet and trap range was also very close with many positions (several shotgun shooters however were a tad bit upset because of the garbage in the background creating a not so great backdrop). Construction was taking place about 200 yards in front of the range as well, creating a not so consistent backdrop. One small problem was that the whole games village was (and still is basically) been constructed during this time which would mean less pre-event training for us. That didn't exactly pose a problem for me because our firearms were still with our coaches (who by this time were on their way but wouldn't arrive in time for one of the periods of pre-event training. I was however quite confident in my position and was perfectly OK with only a day or two of training to get to know the range. When our firearms and coaches finally arrived we were all able to do a bit of training prior to the event. Another problem for me during this time was that I felt a bit sick (sore throat and headache mainly). I still shot my pre-event training during this time however and it felt pretty good. Learning to shoot on the electronic targets and becoming familiar with the lighting were my main goals during this, not to actually practice my shooting. It was a bit disappointing to get sick before the competition for which I had trained hard for a long time but I was confident that on competition day it would disappear.
Rifle Range
Rifle Range
Crowd Seating in Finals Hall
Smallbore Range
Smallbore Range
Air Rifle Range
October 12th: The games begin! Opening ceremonies were held during the evening. Knowing however that I would be competing in two days and with a sore throat that seemed to be getting increasingly worse as the night wore on I opted to leave early and go back to the hotel and get some sleep so that I would hopefully get better before shooting. Unfortunately I missed out on some of the more “fun” performances after I left, as did the 20 or so other athletes from team Canada who left early but I was still happy with my decision as when I woke up in the morning was feeling much stronger. I was able to walk in with the rest of the team and with our flag bearer as well as observe the other countries make their debut so it was neat in that respect. Video cameras and media were evident pretty well everywhere throughout the stadium where the games ceremonies were being held. Equipment check was also held on the 12th which I found very interesting. Due to the high humidity in India, especially during the morning we found that some of our gear did not pass. The equipment machines for checks were very high end. They had electronic stiffness, and thickness checkers for the jackets, pants, boots, gloves and under-clothes as well as some different devices to check for overlap on the jackets (this time it wasn't just pull it as hard as you can until 100mm overlap occurs like the rules state but it would go only so far). Because I wear an "under armor" shirt as well as a shooting sweater the thickness on some parts of this did not fit (the elbows have the double layer for prone so I had to cut one of the layers away so that it would pass). I did not feel that this would hinder my performance in any way. Monica Fyfe (women’s 10m air rifle and 50m three position) and Michael Goodchild (men’s 10m air rifle and 50m three position) didn't fair so well however as Mike had to cut his sweater in the way I did as well and he had to cut part of his pocket away on his shooting jacket. Monica had to move in the buttons a bit and I believe she had to do something with her boots. I saw many shooters who had to cut their boots apart a bit or do other stuff like that. Maybe a bit disappointing for the shooters (I think a lot of shooters were upset because their equipment had been through numerous world cups, etc and had passed there) but it had to be done.
October 13th: The day before I shoot. Several of the shooting competitions were held during this day including Christine King (rapid fire pistol), Geoff Litwin (Shotgun - trap) and Monica Fyfe (10m air rifle). I decided to watch Monica Fyfe as I knew she had a good chance of winning a medal and this was the closest event to the 50m prone event I would be shooting the next day so I was anticipating that it would give me a good idea of would come in 24 hours time. Monica shot well with a 394 - a very respectable score (but would not quite match the Singapore shooter who shot an amazing score - very close to world record with a 398). I watched the Singapore shooter shoot 33 10's in a row before nerves got the best of her and she shot a couple of nines in her last string. An amazing performance none the less. I was coincidently sitting next to her coach during the competition and he was quite nervous for her but was happy about how well she was doing. He said that he really didn't expect her to shoot that well (he mentioned her average scores to be closer to about 392-396) but in the same way knew that she had a great shooting ability and had the potential to do extremely well. Monica on the other hand was having trouble with her knee (a reoccurring injury from gymnastics) during her last string - an injury that would also have an effect on her later in the games. She ended up shooting 3 nines in a row on her last 5 shots or so, as well as another one on her second last shot (which she believes were because of her knee) but still shot very well. I was feeling a bit better this day after seeing the Doctor, Navin (who I recently learned is also the doctor for the BC Lion’s organization). Over the past couple of days he had been getting me different lozenges and halls' for my throat and those seemed to help.
Air Pistol Match
October 14th: Woke up in the morning after getting about nine and a half hours of sleep or so and was feeling much better than that the previous couple of days. Overall I was feeling quite confident and ready to shoot. Got up at around 7:00 and headed off for breakfast where I had the norm' - a couple sausages, few pieces of bacon and a couple of pieces of toast. Maybe not something I would have every day at home – especially before shooting but we were limited as to what food choices there were. Headed off to the range about an hour and a half early to mentally prepare for the shoot. Was able to see what the wind was doing, etc (wind was pretty well non-existent throughout the shoot - one of the few days it had been which was for me a tad bit disappointing as I like to shoot in the wind). Temperature was like any other day in Pune, hot and muggy. We did have ceiling fans above us going when we were shooting so that cooled us down a bit (still pretty hot though wearing a shirt, a sweater and a full canvas jacket in 35+C weather!). Was able to have a good chat with some of the shooters, some of whom I had met on the previous training days on the range. At 10:00 we started the match. I shot about 16 to 18 sighters before starting, enough that I felt confident anyway that my sights were on and I was ready for the “real thing”. Usually I get a bit nervous at this time, when I go from sighting onto scoring but at this match it wasn't really bad at all. I think the reasons for this was: First of all I had trained for the event mentally, secondly because this was my first international match and no one had really high expectations of me doing really well and for that reason didn't really have too much to worry about regardless of what my results would be. My first 2 shots on scoring went pretty well (10.3's), I was calm for the most part (increase in heart beat a bit but that isn't too much to worry about and everybody has that to a certain extent). 3rd shot in was a 9.9, so less than 1mm away from being a 10. As was my fourth shot. Both were fairly close together so I moved my sight over. Shot a solid 10 but than my next shot was a 9.9 on the other side. Ended up shooting a 94 string, which was a bit disappointing but I knew that 4 shots could have gone the other way and it could have been a very good string so with that in mind I went and shot a reasonable second half of the match. Ended up with a 580, which was pretty good for me, definitely nothing to complain about at my first international shoot anyway. Considering I was fifth too and only 5 points off of first was something to be quite happy about as well. Finals got off to a rough start for me (lighting was also pretty terrible as they were having trouble getting consistent lighting for all the positions so for that reason turned the lights off completely, but than again it was the same for everyone so I can’t complain!) and didn't get much better. Nerves for me were a bit of problem throughout this with cameras out in front of you moving (although I really didn't notice these too much). There were also many people in the audience and cameras all around you. I don't think that posed too much of a problem for me I think it was just mainly the fact that with only 45 seconds to shoot there is not a whole lot of time to manage your nerves and settle in, and instead I found my self just shooting. Overall however it was a very good day and I learned a great deal about international competition and earned more experience along the way. I had one media person ask me a few questions but other than that not too much. I ended up being not too far away from earning a medal but I was still very happy with the end results
Mens 50M Prone
October 15th: My shooting had now officially ended. First thing I did was have a nice refreshing bottle of Pepsi. Was nice drinking that seeing as how I had been limiting my diet for quite some time for foods or drinks high in sugar content. In fact there were quite a few things I had to limit for the match so as much fun as it was to shoot it was also a bit of a relief for it to be over and get back to a bit easier lifestyle. I was able to watch some of the other shooters after I had completely finished as well which was neat (I found the trap and skeet interesting seeing as how I had never watched these events before. Geoff Litwin, team Canada's shotgun shooter ended up placing 6th in the trap and 7th in the double trap. He had a solid start on both of these events but a bit rocky finishes but was pleased with his results overall.
Mens Air Rifle Match
Womens 3P match
October 16-17: During these two days I tried to attend as many different venues as possible. It’s always neat to watch the most elite youth athletes in the world at their sports and when you can cheer on your own country its pretty special. The 100m men’s event was neat with the runners running under 10.4 seconds, and the 1500 runners around 4 minutes or less. The high jumpers are jumping over 2m - the highest was about 2.11 (that was pretty amazing seeing as how they are jumping about 7 feet high). The weightlifters are lifting about 130-180kg depending on the events, the badminton players are very elite and boxing was extremely exciting to watch. So overall it was really neat watching all the different events and cheering your fellow teammates on.
Athletics Stadium Entrance
Boxing
High Jump
October 18th: All the events had officially finished. Canada did extremely well, winning 26 medals total! We finished 5th out of the 71 countries competing so there wasn't anything wrong with that. Closing ceremonies were a bit too long to be completely honest. Most people had left before they were over which is understandable. The first hour and a half were all speeches and I found it very difficult to understand them. After that though they had some dances and after an hour or so of that they had some motto-cross which was pretty sweet (except for the fact that we had waited about 3 hours for this and when it finally came all the dancers and mascots that had come on prior were leaving and got in the way of us seeing so for the first part of it was pretty disappointing but once they left it was better). One other small problem we encountered was that the fireworks were right above us so all the debris and junk from them was falling on us - often fairly large chunks that would explode some more when they hit the ground so at time it was a bit dangerous so we used our chairs to protect us from being hit! We also went shopping earlier in the day which was a good culture experience. Despite the limited time, only about an hour of actual shopping, and the fact that much of my money had being stolen earlier during the week meaning I was limited as to what I could buy it was fun to pick up some souvenirs for decent price. It also gave us a chance to experience more of the culture of India.
October 19th: This would be our last full day in India before would be departing the next day. Team Canada was given the option of either going golfing or going shopping. Seeing as how I had already being shopping and had limited money left I opted to go shopping with our pistol shooter, Matt Hendry. He happened to be the only two athletes to go golfing, but six of the mission staff joined us. Traveling out to the golf course on the filthy roads and seeing very poor houses all round I was wondering what the golf course would look like. I was expecting something not so nice and was actually partially wondering if I made the right decision but after the thirty minute bus ride it all became clear. We traveled up to the top of a hill where we could see the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen. One mission staff that was with us who had golfed at different places all over the world commented that this course was as nice as any out there. When we arrived at the office we were offered many different drinks, cookies, etc. From there we were given our clubs, golf-carts, and furthermore we each got our own cadies! It was a beautiful (but hot) day on the golf course but the breeze cooled things down nicely and made for one heck of a fun day. Most holes were 300-550 yards. Definitely a high-light of my trip and the athletes who went shopping said it wasn’t very fun at all so it felt great to say “golfing was great!” to them!
On the Golf Course...
October 20th-21st: Departure day! The games were a ton of fun overall and a great experience but in the same way it would be nice to get back home. We left the hotel we were staying in at around 3:00 in the afternoon where I would travel for about 40 hours before getting back home. A very long time to travel overall, and a slight problem arose when I missed my flight in Toronto after our plane from Abu Dhabi got in late but we got that all squared away. I would have to say that my high-light of the day was getting to the Toronto airport and biting into a delicious double bacon cheddar cheeseburger. I didn’t realize after all those days in India just how much I loved the taste of meat and that hamburger was probably the most delicious meal I have ever had, especially after barely eating for 24 hours or so. I got home at around 7:00 on the night of the 21st. I really couldn’t have asked for a better trip and it brought with me many memories that I will have for the rest of my life!
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End of Report... Finally
Jordan
