Compiled from work by Shannon McNamara of the University of
West Virginia at http://www.wvusports.com/page.cfm?story=21576&cat=exclusives and the London Olympic website
http://www.london2012.com/news/articles/rifle-gold-for-campriani.html.
Former West Virginia University student-athlete Nicco Campriani (Italy) shot an Olympic record and won Gold in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, today, inside the Royal Artillery Barracks, at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
Campriani, ranked No. 1 in the world in the event, won today with an Olympics final record of 1278.5. He shot an Olympic-record 1180 (396 prone, 390 standing, 394 kneeling) in the qualification round and 98.5 in the final. Campriani entered the final in the No. 1 position, eight points ahead of Matthew Emmons (USA).
Today’s finish is a vast improvement on Campriani’s last Olympic 3 positions competition, as he placed 39th at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
The destination of the gold was never in doubt after Campriani started the final with an eight-point lead having smashed the Olympic record in qualifying with a score of 1180 – and he finished six points clear with a combined Olympic best.
But there was drama behind him, USA’s Matt Emmons lying second with a 1.6-point lead with one round to go.
But he produced the worst shot of the final, a 7.6, allowing Republic of Korea’s Kim Jonghyun to snatch silver with a 10.4.
Emmons took bronze, with Cyril Graff of France just 0.3 behind.
‘It’s never over until it’s over,’ Emmons said. ‘Anytime you can be on the podium at the Olympics is a pretty cool thing. After the last shot I looked down and thought “hey, I got bronze, cool”.’
‘If I’m nervous and make a mistake then I make a mistake, and that’s what happened,’ he said.
Campriani, who was the first athlete from any sport to qualify for London 2012 when he won a World Cup event two years earlier, said: ‘It’s not how you win but how you handle the loss that makes you a champion.
‘Matt is incredible, in Beijing he was smiling after 10 minutes, it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen on a shooting range.
‘He’s an inspiration to me and a great champion.’
Kim Jonghyun of the Republic of Korea won Silver with a final score of 1272.5 (1171, 101.5), while Emmons secured Bronze with a total of 1271.3 (1172, 99.3).
Today’s event was the final rifle competition of the Games. Campriani, the 2011 NCAA air rifle champion, leaves London with two medals, having secured Silver in the men’s 10m air rifle on July 30; he also finished eighth in the men’s 50m rifle prone on Aug. 3.
