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Friday, September 22
U.S. edges Russia in overtime round
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Practice makes perfect. Nearly.
After setting an Olympic record that was broken less than an
hour later, the U.S. team was nearly perfect in a shoot-off to gain
the bronze medal in men's archery Friday.
Paced by individual silver medalist Vic Wunderle of Mason City,
Iowa, and Atlanta gold medalists Butch Johnson of Woodstock, Conn.,
and Rod White of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, the United States beat Russia
29-26 in the overtime round. Both teams tied 239 through nine
rounds.
U.S. coach Lloyd Brown made a one-arrow shootoff part of his
practices so the archers could get used to the feeling of a
tension-filled finale.
In the three-arrow shoot-off, Johnson and Wunderle each hit a 10
while White hit a nine, just one point from a perfect score. Russia
ended with a total of 26.
"We have to thank our coach for the shootoff practice," said
White. "We wanted to come home with some hardware, so we're
happy."
"We've practiced that situation," said Johnson.
The Americans had to scramble after wasting a seven-point lead
with nine arrows to go.
"It was looking real good but it went away fast," said
Johnson.
"We shot really well early in the match," said Wunderle.
"Russia shot well and it made for a close, exciting finish."
In the quarterfinals, the Americans teamed for 255 points.
However, South Korea, on its way to the gold medal, scored 258 less
than an hour later. The previous mark was a 249 by another South
Korean trio in 1996 at Atlanta, a team that lost to an American
threesome for the gold.
Four years ago, Johnson and White joined individual gold
medalist Justin Huish to gain the team gold. Huish resigned from
his spot on the archery team after he was charged with marijuana
possession earlier this year.
In the gold medal match, South Korea was never threatened. Jang
Yong-ho, Oh Kyo-moon and Kim Chung-tae beat Italy 255-247.
Italy beat the United States in the semifinals, 244-241.
In the quarterfinals, the South Koreans bettered the American
Olympic mark of 255 with 258 against Ukraine, missing the world
record by two.
South Korea took three of the four medals, led by a sweep of the
women, with record-setting performances in both team and individual
competition.
The men, after taking the top three spots in the ranking phase,
failed to gain an individual medal.
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