Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 7, 1990 TAG: 9007070126
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He won a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics, setting a world record in the process. Four years later, he had his second Olympic gold.
Yet, Anderson, from Alexandria, hardly has been receiving a hero's welcome during the State Games this week in the Roanoke Valley.
Gary who?
Anderson is used to it. He is a shooter.
So is his son, 15-year-old Erik, who is entered in the three-position rifle competition.
In a sport of straight shots, two generations of the Anderson family have learned that the American public has some warped opinions about competitive shooting.
American shooting champions are better known abroad than they are at home. Even though Gary Anderson has been out of international shooting for 20 years, there still are places in Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe where his name is recognized.
"On the end of my serious international competitiveness, my wife and I lived in Germany for a year," Anderson said. "When we traveled around in Germany we had to be very careful where we could let my name be known. Even then, sometimes I would be recognized. I have never had that happen here."
Although he has been a serious shooter for less than two years, Erik already has discovered that his is a sport of obscurity.
"In my school, it is barely even mentioned," he said of the fact that he won the Virginia Junior Olympic Championship in February and is viewed by serious shooters as a potential world-class competitor.
A quiet, gangly youngster, Erik really doesn't care at this point. What's more, his father has some words of wisdom on the subject.
"The reward you get out of shooting is the satisfaction of reaching personal goals," he said. "You aren't as concerned about spectators as you are [about] being with good competition that is well-trained and very intense."
Recognition may come, however. It must, said Gary Anderson, who is more than just an interested father watching his son shoot. As executive director of the National Rifle Association's General Operations, his job is to promote shooting competition.
"One of the things that the leadership of international shooting is recognizing . . . it has to become more of a public sport," he said.
The State Games, like other recent international-style events, are using a shoot-off system to draw crowds and appeal to TV cameras, which usually shun shooting sports, said Anderson.
After a match, the top shooters participate in a 10-shot match where each shot is scored individually and announced to the crowd.
"It makes for a spectator's finish," he said.
Crowds already are a part of shooting in many countries. The 1992 Olympics will feature a shooting arena in Barcelona, Spain, that has 5,000 seats, Anderson said.
Such developments promise an exciting future for young shooters like Erik, he said.
Anderson said he believes his son is as good a competitor at age 15 as he was at 19.
"I think he has potential for being a great shooter," he said. "He is working hard. I think for this stage of his development his training is as intense [two to eight hours a week] as it should be."
The country to beat when Anderson went to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was the Soviet Union. It still is. But Anderson used his rifle to pop one of the Soviets' balloons. Before the '64 Olympics, Soviet shooters were viewed as unstoppable.
"They were winning everything," he said. "In fact, there were a lot of people who believed they had some kind of special advantage where shooters from the West just couldn't beat them. I like to think I played some kind of role in breaking that myth."
The Soviets might be on the brink of still another setback. Unlike the Americans, East Bloc shooters always have had the financial support of the state.
"I'm not sure what is going to happen now," said Anderson, reflecting on the rapid changes taking place in Eastern Europe.
"I think it is going to have the effect of leveling out the playing ground. Erik is coming on at a very good time."
by CNB