From: SSAA, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Station: 3AW Date: 08/09/2000 Program: BREAKFAST Time: 06:41 AM Compere: ROSS STEVENSON/DEAN BANKS INTERVIEW WITH YVONNE HILL, FORMER OLYMPIC SHOOTER AND OLYMPIC SHOOTING TEAM MANAGER ROSS STEVENSON: Yvonne Hill is the Shooting Team section manager. She is in Adelaide, where it is extraordinarily early in the morning and she has got up to talk to us, because sheÆs going to talk to us about shooting and thereÆs a reason for that and that is that if we cast our minds back to Atlanta and we remember that our first gold medal, I think, was Michael Diamond. I hope IÆm not offending Russell Mark. Yvonne, good morning. YVONNE HILL: Good morning. How are you?. ROSS STEVENSON: Good. Was it Michael Diamond first, or Russell first? YVONNE HILL: It was Michael first in Atlanta and Russell followed soon after. ROSS STEVENSON: And Michael, of course, is from Goulburn. We know Russell is back there for what I think is his fourth Olympics. YVONNE HILL: I believe so. HeÆs a very experienced hand at that Olympic game and does very well. ROSS STEVENSON: Oh, yes. TheyÆre the two top stars in our team for this year. ROSS STEVENSON: Right-oh. And I think I heard Russell say the other night on Channel 7Æs version of Millionaire that he won the World Cup recently. So would he be the favourite again in his event? YVONNE HILL: Well, he will certainly give everybody else a fright. He won his first Gold in World Cups in Sydney in March, the test event, and heÆs looking very good. DEAN BANKS: Has there been a lessening of interest in the sport of shooting over the last few years, with gun controls and buy back schemes and all that? YVONNE HILL: WeÆve had a lot of publicity, of course, which is à in terms of shooting in general, our sport, has never been a high profile sport in terms of publicity. ItÆs has probably more for the Olympic shooting sports over the past four years because of the success of Russell and Michael than ever before. ROSS STEVENSON: Do you pull the trigger, Yvonne? YVONNE HILL: Yes. IÆm a former Olympian and you mentioned Benny Pike, Benny and I went to the Moscow Olympics together and, in fact, he passed the torch to me in the torch relay up at Coolum recently. ROSS STEVENSON: I tell you what, if ever you got in a scrap, you two would be fairly handy. Benny the boxer and you with a shottie. YVONNE HILL: [Laughs] Yeah. ROSS STEVENSON: And how many in the shooting team? YVONNE HILL: WeÆve got 23 shooters. ItÆs the biggest ever team. ItÆs more than double the size of the team that went to Atlanta and itÆs probably our strongest ever team, as a result of the Olympic Athlete program, which has really brought some young shooters up rapidly over the last few years. DEAN BANKS: ItÆs not a à simply a question that itÆs a home town event, that we keep hearing about the biggest teams ever? YVONNE HILL: Yes, I think thatÆs pretty much across the board. ROSS STEVENSON: Is that why weÆve got more, because itÆs cheaper to have more? YVONNE HILL: Well, we do get a little bit of an advantage being on home soil, because you actually get a few additional places. But I think itÆs also a little less expensive than when we have to take teams overseas too. ROSS STEVENSON: Now talk about a home ground advantage, I mean, maybe I can understand it in athletics, because thereÆd be û I donÆt know û a lot of cheering for Cathy Freeman because weÆve got more Australians in the crowd. Is the home ground û I couldnÆt imagine that being a benefit in shooting. Is- - YVONNE HILL: Well, not exactly. I think our best advantage is the huge support from the Australian public and family and friends. But in addition to that, weÆve had the opportunity to train on a number of occasions on the Sydney ground, which is absolutely magnificent, by the way, itÆs the best in the world, I would say from my experience. The only problem we have there and it could be a problem given that September is the windiest month in Sydney, is the weather, because that can seriously affect that accuracy of your shooting. ROSS STEVENSON: I take it, Yvonne, that when IÆm standing à IÆm leaning down there and IÆm shooting at a target and perfectly still, that the wind will have no effect on the bullet? YVONNE HILL: It does have an effect on the bullet, IÆm afraid. It throws it about something awful. DEAN BANKS: Can you be wind assisted? YVONNE HILL: No, IÆm afraid not. The clay target shooters were telling me just a few days ago that the wind was flattening the targets, so that where you would expect it to go is not where it goesà ROSS STEVENSON: IsnÆt that interesting- - YVONNE HILL: àso you have to be really sharp. ROSS STEVENSON: Chicago was the head of the à was the mobster city. ThatÆs where Al Capone was. ItÆs also called the windy city. I mean, I presume everyone that got shot by the Mafia was not someone they intended to shoot, but the person standing next to them. YVONNE HILL: Yeah. Well, weÆre not into that sort of stuff, as you know. [Laughs] ROSS STEVENSON: I appreciate that. Yet the Olympic Games, it is said that the Australia à the AOC is heading for 20/20/20, right? Twenty gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze is the aim. YVONNE HILL: Yeah. ROSS STEVENSON: Sports Illustrated has come out overnight and said that Australia will finish with 18 gold medals and 67 in total, ranking it fourth in the nations of the world, behind America, Russia, someone û donÆt ask- - DEAN BANKS: China? ROSS STEVENSON: Yes, it could be China. YVONNE HILL: Probably. ROSS STEVENSON: Because weÆre ahead of the Germans, who are fifth. How many of those are going to be contributed by our shooters, of the 20/20/20? YVONNE HILL: Well, I believe there will be some, but I wouldnÆt like to lay money on how many. I think that would be a losing bet to place, because it could be more or less than people expect. ROSS STEVENSON: Have a shot at it. YVONNE HILL: Ha, ha, ha, ha. ROSS STEVENSON: Two, two, two? YVONNE HILL: ItÆs possible. ROSS STEVENSON: Would two, two, two be a good result? YVONNE HILL: ItÆs certainly possible. DEAN BANKS: Is there anybody else that we should be keeping an eye or an ear out for, apart from a Diamond or a Mark? YVONNE HILL: Oh, yes, there are quite a number of people. ROSS STEVENSON: Give us a smokie. YVONNE HILL: Sorry? ROSS STEVENSON: Give us, you know, someone weÆve never heard of who might sneak up and win a gold medal? DEAN BANKS: If not a smoking gun. YVONNE HILL: From Australia? ROSS STEVENSON: Yeah. YVONNE HILL: Yeah. WeÆve got some very strong young people in the rifle team. ROSS STEVENSON: Name one. YVONNE HILL: WeÆve got a Timothy Lowndes [phonetic], whoÆs- - ROSS STEVENSON: Timothy Lowndes, thatÆll do. YVONNE HILL: Yes. HeÆs going to have his 21st birthday while heÆs at the Games, which will be something to remember. HeÆs the only one in the team who is shooting three events. ROSS STEVENSON: HeÆd be the only 21 year old whoÆll have a few shots at his 21s, but it wonÆt be tequila. YVONNE HILL: [Laughs] WeÆre going to make sure he has a good time. ROSS STEVENSON: Do they have clay pigeons, is that what à is one of the events clay pigeons? YVONNE HILL: Clay target, itÆs called. Yeah, clay target, theyÆre round clay discs, made out of clay. ROSS STEVENSON: I was talking to a bloke once whoÆs taken up shooting, he said heÆd taken up shooting clay pigeons and heÆs put in a request to see if theyÆve got clay barns. YVONNE HILL: [Laughs] ROSS STEVENSON: Good luck, Yvonne. DEAN BANKS: Yvonne, just before you go, Ross mentioned tequila, is it true that some shooters might have a drink or two just to steady the hand? YVONNE HILL: IÆm afraid not. It has the reverse effect. TheyÆll certainly be having one or two afterwards, but not before. DEAN BANKS: ThatÆs one of the apocryphal stories? YVONNE HILL: Yes. DEAN BANKS: All right. Nice to talk to you and thank you for getting up so early. YVONNE HILL: ThatÆs fine. Bye. DEAN BANKS: Yvonne Hill joining us on the line from Adelaide. And sheÆs the Shooting Team Section Manager. ROSS STEVENSON: And you heard it first, young Timothy Lowndes, who on his 21st birthday, you know, the rest of Australia will be going, æoh, my God, whoÆs Timothy LowndesÆ and weÆll be going, æoh, yeah, TimÆ. DEAN BANKS: Yeah. Yvonne told us. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
