THE hairs on the back of Norm Harrison’s neck stand up when he thinks about walking into the stadium at the 1976 Olympics.
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The Leeton man competed in the 50-metre pistol event at Montreal.
Mr Harrison said he would have some sleepless nights during the Rio Olympics.
“I stay up all night, it brings back memories,” he said.
Mr Harrison, 77, remembers watching a Marlboro cigarettes ad when he lived in Sydney about a rapid fire pistol event. He decided to go along and discovered he had a natural talent.
“The very first year I competed I won the B grade free pistol in the NSW championships,” Mr Harrison said.
“In the same year I was second in the nationals and the following 16 years I never placed worse than second.”
There were some bittersweet moments for Harrison in his shooting career.
“I was eligible for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico but they only sent one shooter,” Mr Harrison said. “Four years later in 1972 I qualified again but they only sent a rapid fire shooter. I thought ‘to hell with this, the only way I am going to make it is to be number one’.”
Mr Harrison upped his training regime and qualified number one in rapid fire four years later.
He received a letter in the mail informing him he had qualified for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
Mr Harrison laughs about it now, but he couldn’t believe that the Australian team consisted of not two but 11 shooters that year.
He said it was the opportunity of a lifetime to compete for your country.
“I’d been to world championships prior to that and Commonwealth Games but the Olympic Games – that was the pinnacle,” Mr Harrison said.
He was “reasonably happy” with his efforts, finishing 30th.
However, he admitted no athlete is ever happy unless they perform at their best.
Mr Harrison said there was an electric feeling of camaraderie between Olympic athletes.
