A 10.3 was not enough for France’s Alexis Raynaud to win the crucial duel against Christoph Kaulich of Germany, who shot a 10.7 to take over the shoot-off and become the new Junior World Champion for Men’s 50m Rifle Prone, today in Granada. Kaulich and Raynaud had both closed the final on 207.6 points, setting a new Junior Final World Record—every junior final has one, as this competition is the first-ever ISSF event to feature junior finals.
Kaulich made it to the gold as he mounted a very late comeback to reach Raynaud in first place just in the final round. The 20-year-old of France was indeed quite close to win the event, as he was leading—even though by just 0.1 points—when there were only two shots left.
In the last round, Kaulich did just the bare minimum he needed to catch up with Raynaud, whose 0.1-point lead turned into a joint first position as the two finalists scored respectively 20.8 and 20.7, heading to a shoot-off.
Those were the very first medals in Kaulich and Raynaud’s careers, as well in bronze medalist Marcin Majka’s (POL), who scored 163.6.
Junior European Champions Andre Link of Germany and Gernot Rumpler of Austria only came in respectively fourth (163.6) and sixth place (122.5).
Team (Based on qualification scores)
Germany also won gold in the team competition, as Kaulich (629.3), Link (620.4), and teammate Mario Nittel (606.9) added up to 1856.6 points in the qualification round. Like in the individual contest, the winning score was a Junior World Record too, as junior finals are taking place for the first time.
Again, France was in the silver medal spot (1855.8). This time, it was thanks to silver medalist Raynaud, who had entered the final with a qualification score of 624.9, and teammates Brian Baudouin (617.7) and Emilien Chassat (613.2).
Contributions by Ishchenko (620.5), Panchenko (614.1), and Goloviznin (612.4) gave bronze to the Russian Federation (1847.0).
See the full results via web or PDF.