Peter Hellenbrand makes Olympic shooting history

Dutch marksman Peter Hellenbrand may not have captured a medal in the final of the 10m air rifle, but he did make Olympic history.

During the event, he managed a perfect bulls eye with a score of 10.9, the first time this has been achieved in an Olympic shooting final. “It was great, the public went crazy,” said the 26-year old athlete. But his achievement was also a mixed blessing: “It also makes it difficult, because then everyone’s watching you…luckily I was able to get my heart rate back down again”.

Hellenbrand ended in fifth place, the best ranking ever achieved by a Dutch shooter in this event.