A FINAL shot in Athens secured Slovakia's top shooter, Jozef Gönci, another Olympic bronze, this time in the men's 10-metre air rifle, the news wire TASR wrote.
"I had my mind under control, as there was a lot of pressure on the final shot," Gönci said.
"As I loaded my rifle, I thought 'this is going to be the best shot of my life'. Then I heard all the applause," Gönci told media after he scored 10.4 against 9.4 by Korea's Cheon Min-ho.
Gönci is expected to improve his medal count in the 50-metre rifle prone on August 20, and wrap up his Athens campaign in his top discipline, three-position 50-metre rifle, on August 22.
In swimming, Martina Moravcová failed to qualify for the 200-metre freestyle final, in which she was defending a silver medal from Sydney 2000, finishing seventh in her second semi-final in 1 minute, 59.99 seconds.
"I did not feel well after the butterfly final and I could not sleep. Although I started in second place, I gradually lost power and I had no energy to do anything about it," Moravcová said after the semi-final.
Moravcová, who has won Slovakia's Best Athlete of the Year award multiple times, will still have a chance to improve her Athens performance in the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle.
The country's number one tennis player, Dominik Hrbatý, confirmed his good shape this year, beating Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. In the second round of the tournament he will meet Taylor Dent of the United States.
Also on Tuesday, canoeist Michal Martikan will start his white-water slalom campaign to improve his second place at Sydney 2000 and repeat his Olympic gold from Atlanta.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
