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

Italy’s Niccolò Campriani came into London ranked #1 in the world in this event and in the air rifle, and he had already won a silver in the air rifle prior to this event. He left no doubt in this event as to his status, scoring 1,180 points in the qualifier for an Olympic record and a huge margin of eight points over American Matt Emmons. In the final Campriani was steady, eventually winning the gold medal by 6.0 points over Korean Kim Jong-Hyeon.

But once again the drama on the final shot came to Emmons. In both 2004 and 2008, Emmons had come into the last shot of the final as the leader. In Athens he cross-fired, shooting at the wrong target, and scored a 0.0 for the shot, dropping him off the podium as he finished last among the finalists. In Beijing he again led on the final shot, but his finger slipped on the trigger and he scored only 4.4 points, again dropping him to fourth and out of the medals. In London Emmons shot wonderfully for nine shots of the final, with easily the best final round, but his final shot was only a 7.6, and Kim fired a 10.4 to move up to silver. Emmons did hold on this time to win the bronze medal. This was his third Olympic medal, as he had won two in the English match (small-bore prone) with a gold in 2004 and a silver in 2008.