Specially designed for the Games and unveiled at the inaugural 2000 event, this competition features competitors shooting simultaneously, side by side. Each competitor will have a bank of 10 targets and a plate of dueling targets in front of them.

Competitors will earn points for hitting each of their 10 banked targets and each of their own plate targets. Once they completely knock down all 10 targets in his/her bank of targets the fun really starts. That's because they can then turn their sites on his/her dueling plate targets or his/her opponent's dueling plate targets.

Competitors may hit their opponent's plate targets, moving the targets back to the "live" position and thus deducting the point value of that target from their opponent's score.

When the nerves build under the spotlight of the event, the breathing gets shaky and so does the accuracy. Even if you're accurate on your targets your opponent still has the opportunity to render your good performance a waste.

A steady hand and even steadier nerves will determine the champion this year, as it did last year.

Coming into the gold medal round of the 2002 Great Outdoor Games, Doug Koenig of Albertis, Pa., had already won what essentially were two "gold medal matches" on his way to the finals of the Rifle competition.

Back-to-back victories over Bob Mastroianni — in a rematch of the 2000 Great Outdoor Games gold medal match — and eventual 2002 bronze medalist Carl Bernosky earned Koenig only the chance to compete against defending gold medalist Jerry Miculek.

In a random seeding of the 16-man field, the consensus was that five of the top six shooters ended up in the lower half of the bracket. It created some high drama there while Miculek was wiping out the field on the other half.

After working through some hiccups in both .22-caliber rifles during his three previous matches, Miculek saved his best for last in successfully defending his gold medal and sending Koenig home with a silver medal for the third year in a row.

"Those little targets were jumping around on me for awhile, so I had to keep shooting at them. The big thing is to get on the dueling tree fast and don't look back. It's easy to say and hard to do," said Miculek.

In earning his second straight gold medal, Miculek admitted he worked through some personal tension in addition to his gun problems early in the competition.

"I was really tight coming in here," he said. "In one of those early rounds, I needed 55 shots to win. I shot close to 50 times in another one."

But he was on when it counted, leaving Koenig one step short of gold one more time.

"I want to win the gold medal," Koenig said. "But at the same time, I'd rather have silver than bronze or nothing at all. This is frustrating. I'll win this thing one day."

Registered for 2003

Jerry Miculek, Princeton, La.
Doug Koenig, Albertis, Pa.
Carl Bernosky, Ashland, Pa.
Mark Mazzotta, Westerly, R.I.
Mike Cumming, Altoona, Pa.
Bruce Piatt, Montvale, N.J.
Don Clark, Hollidaysburg, Pa.

Qualifying Criteria

16 invitations will be extended as follows: