Bermuda's top shot? Roberts wins bronze

Ross Roberts’ heart was racing with a medal on the line. He knew he had to slow it down if he wanted to stay in contention. Taking a few controlled breaths he fired off his shot.

A moment later he was crowned in CAC games glory having finished third in the 50m rifle prone.

An elated Roberts said: “This is a high I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’ve been competing for about 15 to 20 years on and off. I was trying to get back into the swing of things and it worked out.”

Roberts went into the final in second place with a score of 592 out of 600. There wasn’t much difference amongst first to third as two points separated the three shooters.

“That’s the first time I’ve shot a score that high in competition so it was one of my better performances.

It was my personal best.

“I had a pretty good feeling I had a shot at a medal going into the final. I dropped a shot and that’s all it took to drop me from second to third. I lost a couple of points and ended up in third, but I’m happy with it.”

Roberts said as the final progressed “the nerves kicked in, but I managed to stay on top of them for most of it. I lost a couple of shots while I was trying to control my heartbeat. I had to do some breathing to try to get it down to where I was comfortable with it.

“When you get into a final like this for the first time, there’s a lot more controlling than you’re used to trying to do.”

The final consisted of 10 shots with each shooter firing their weapon at roughly the same time. After the round is fired, the scores are updated and announced.

“After I fired off the last shot, I wasn’t even sure that I was even in the medals. I knew I was close, but I wasn’t sure where I was until I got up and saw the scoreboard.”

Just how close was he? Ross final score was 693.1 and fourth place finisher Cesar Tobon of Colombia was at 693.0. Alexander Rivera of host nation Puerto Rico won the event at 694.6.

Carl Reid of Bermuda shot a 566 and finished 27th out of 30.

In the team event on Monday, Bermuda finished ninth with Anthony Evans being the squad’s third shooter.