[5] A newcomer to the Olympic scene, Saathoff could not mount enough pressure to beat against the world's best running target shooters in front of a partisan crowd, rounding off the 20-shooter field to a dead last at 555 points.

In 1998, Saathoff came from nowhere to stun the entire field of expert shooters in the 10-metre running target, as he surprisingly won the silver medal with a score of 677.9, but could not chase China's Olympic bronze medalist Niu Zhiyuan for the title by just nine tenths of a point.

[1][7] Heading back to his second Olympics in Sydney 2000, Saathoff continued to dominate at the national trials, and watched his fellow marksman Lance Dement earning the other berth to join with him on the U.S. shooting team.

[8] At the Games, he shot a modest 570 to force in a three-way tie with Hungary's Jószef Ángyán and Germany's Michael Jakosits for twelfth in the qualifying round of the 10 m running target, an enormous upgrade from his 1996 Olympic feat by a fifteen-point margin.

[14][15] With the running target being removed from the Games in an effort to streamline the Olympic program, Saathoff decided to retire from competitive shooting career to focus on his current stint as an EMT at the Sierra Vista Fire Department.