Washington man, 82, makes one millionth basketball free throw

Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A Washington state man celebrated his 82nd birthday by completing his 17-year goal to shoot one million basketball free throws.

Tom Steury, 82, of Eastside, said he made about 94 percent of the shots he took over the course of 17 years and spent a total of about 2,500 hours on the court.

Steury made his one millionth free throw on Thursday, his 82nd birthday.

"I feel really good about it," Steury told KOMO-TV. "Yeah, I do. It's great to be able to perform pretty well under pressure. As you know I don't normally have this kind of crowd here, but it went well. I think I might have missed eight or so."

Steury said he pursued his goal by making about 100 free throws every day he spent on the basketball court. He said his best streak was making 222 shots in a row.