Winner Jerry Miculek, center, is flanked by runner-up Doug Koenig, left, and Mike Cumming (third) at last year's competition.

Hollywood may have popularized the concept of the fastest gun in the West. But the ESPN Great Outdoor Games has taken it to a new level.

It's not exactly the high drama of Gary Cooper in "High Noon," but Jerry Miculek's Gold Medal performance in the Great Outdoor Games was every bit as exciting.

Miculek of Princeton, La., is considered the fastest pistol shooter in the world. He holds three world-record speed-shooting titles. He has put eight shots in one target in less than one second and can shoot six shots and reload six shots on a target in 2.99 seconds.

Let's see Gary Cooper do that.

Playing the percentages

"You have to be able to pull the trigger and let it fly," Miculek said. "My philosophy is Let it rip. I shoot on percentages. At least a third of it (bullets) will hit (the target)."

The philosophy does have some basis. The way Miculek figures it, "If a guy hears me hitting it off, it might distract him. My goal is to have everyone as aggravated as possible."

	“	My goal is to have everyone as aggravated as possible. ”
		— Jerry Miculek, 2001 rifle competition Gold Medalist

Obviously it works. Miculek not only won the Gold Medal in the rifle event at the 2001 GO Games, in the process he set a world record.

Miculek's "let it rip" philosophy will be tested again July 11 when the GO Games return to Lake Placid.

Amid the constant rat-a-tat-tat of rifle fire, spectators will likely get a taste of the real drama surrounding competitive shooting. The 2001 GO Games certainly had its share.

Miculek's blazing speed topped the list. But the competition was punctuated by a first-round upset of 2000 gold medalist Bob Mastroianni.

An early-round upset

"When it's a one-run-and-done type of competition, then anything can happen," said Doug Koenig, a two-time silver medalist. "That may have actually turned the tide. Without Bob (Mastroianni) in Miculek's bracket, there was no one to push him. It made a huge impact, because he could run through the bracket without having to really bear down until the final."

That tide-turning round had Mastroianni facing Richard Aitken, the 13th seed in the tournament of 16 shooters.

Aitken matched Mastroianni, the heavy favorite, shot for shot, target for target in the opening moments of the round. But as the match progressed, Aitken pulled away and completed the bank of ten aperture targets and moved to the dueling tree first. As Aitken moved up the dueling tree hitting his targets, Mastroianni missed several of his last shots on the aperture bank and had to reload. Those few seconds gave Aitken the opening he needed and he cleaned his remaining targets, defeating Mastroianni 100 to 48.

It was not only regarded as a huge upset, but it opened the door for Miculek to blaze away.

Ironically, Aitken followed Miculek's "let it rip" philosophy to put away the former champion.

"I knew I had my rhythm going and I could see the targets falling. I just kept shooting," Aitken said.

The shooters in the contest competed in a head-to-head bracketed format, where two shooters stood side-by-side and raced each other to see who could shoot 14 targets the quickest.

The targets included a horizontal row of 10 targets, varying from 3- to 6-inches in diameter. Once those were down, shooters switched to the "tree," a horizontal row of four targets, starting from the bottom, with a 3 1/2-inch circle, and ending at the top with a 1 1/2-inch circle.

The game measures accuracy and speed. But while most of the competitors concentrated more on accuracy, Miculek seemed to concentrate more on speed.

"I had plenty of bullets," he said.

Now he has a GO Games Gold Medal and a World Record, and this year everyone will be gunning for him.