Luckily the next day was a rest day for me. The plan was to have some family time and so we headed up to The Colorado National Monument, which is like a mini Grand Canyon. The views were amazing as we drove up the Rimrock Drive which runs around the top of the canyon. As we got to the Visitors Centre, we got an email saying that Stages 1 to 10 were open for competitors to walk. It was an opportunity too good to miss, so after a brief discussion, we decided to head to Cameo and walk the stages I would be shooting the next day, sightseeing would have to wait. This indeed turned out to be incredibly useful. We spent the rest of the day walking the stages and making short videos for the rest of the GB Team. Some of the team were supporting other Team GB shooters doing their Day 1 of shooting higher up the mountain & therefore wouldn't have the chance to walk the stages.
My second day of competing was much more like a UK-style event with barricades, tank traps and to spice things up, in true American style, several car stages. Initially, I couldn't quite find the form I had on day 1 then disaster struck! I was first up on Stage 2 a relatively simple prone stage that had the potential to be high-scoring for me. The stage consisted of five targets T1-408, T2-496, T3-657 and T5-772 metres with hw following instructions “Shooter will start with mag in and bolt back. On command, the shooter will go prone and engage each target with two shots from the near target to the far target.” “Shooter Ready...Stand By....Beep!” I set up my position and acquired T1 and sent my first round. I could clearly see the impact but the spotter & RO were silent. I followed up quickly with my second shot, another impact, silence..... I couldn’t understand what was going on, had I got the wrong target? I checked my dope card all seemed correct. I quickly dialled my elevation for T2, impact....impact but no call from the spotter or RO. I could feel the tension in the crowd that was watching. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing wrong. I moved to T3, impact... still nothing. I stopped and just waited for the buzzer.
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway
As I got up I looked around for an explanation, Dad was there trying to not show how upset he was for me, and Mum looked like she was going to cry. In my rush to get my dope done as I was first up, I had not heard the RO say in his brief that my bipod had to be in front of a line of small rocks that he had set up. It had not been in the Course of Fire. I was absolutely gutted and I struggled to try to shake it off but knew I had potentially just lost 10th place in the Juniors. It looked like I would miss my goal. Unfortunately, I carried my disappointment onto the next couple of stages although the encouraging words of fellow GB Team shooters helped me get my head back in the game. Stage 6 exposed one of my main weaknesses, we had to hold for both elevation and wind. Although at this point my 10th pace goal had slipped away, once this self-imposed pressure was gone I relaxed and enjoyed the final stages. I even managed to score well with an 8 out of 10 on my final stage.
The next day I had the opportunity to support Steve Shorter from Team GB, who was doing his Day 2 of shooting. Mum, Dad and Nat enjoyed a lie-in & then went off to finish the sightseeing trip that had been cut short. The Shoot Offs to decide final placements for shooters who were tied was called off as the area experienced some big storms overnight. The final placements were then decided by using the timings of the timed Skills Stage. Luckily things cleared up for the Closing Ceremony later that day but it was mostly indoors with lovely BBQ food & lots of speeches. We managed to get the all-important GB Team photos; and as is now a tradition at the World Championships, swap jerseys with other Junior competitor Cage Caples from the USA; chat to other competitors in Squad 24 & say thank you to the organising team.
5.00 am the next day saw us up and out of the hotel for the drive back across The Rockies to Denver for our flight home. We dropped into the Mile High Shooting Store and bumped into most of the GB team, then headed on to the airport. Quite a few of the team were on the same flight back to the UK and had been waiting for some time to check in their rifles as BA only had one person doing this. After a couple of hours of waiting Dad and I were escorted to a small room to book my rifle onto the plane.“Sorry Sir, but we don't have any paperwork for your rifle..” I could see Dad about to launch into a tirade. I put my hand on his shoulder and mouthed “Stay Calm”.