Small-Bore Rifle, Three Positions, 50 metres, Men

In 2004, Matt Emmons (USA) won gold in the English match and looked set to win a historic small-bore double in the three position event when he led going into the final shot. But on the final shot, he cross-fired – shooting at the wrong target – and was awarded a score of 0 for the final shot, which dropped him to last place among the finalists. In Beijing he won a silver in the small-bore prone event two days before starting the three-position event. In qualifying he was second with 1,175, trailing Slovenia’s Rajmond Debevec by one point. But in the final, he was easily the best shooter for nine shots, posting 90.9 for those nine shots, well ahead of the other finalists. He looked set to redeem himself for the problems in Athina when it happened again. He did not cross-fire, but his finger slipped on the final shot and he scored only a 4.4. This dropped him to fourth place and out of the medals. The gold medal was won by China’s Qiu Jian, which was considered a major upset. China’s defending gold medalist, Jia Zhanbo, placed only 24th.