USA’s 2004 Olympic Champion Matthew Emmons, 35, ranked first in the world, displayed his exceptional skills at today’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men final, the last match of the ISSF World Cup stage in Munich.
Emmons finished atop of the podium with a new final world record score of 464.1 points, shuttering the 463.7 record established by China’s Hui Zicheng last 24 April in Rio de Janeiro.
“To be able to come here to Munich and shoot a world record is something really awesome, and I did not expect it.” Emmons said after the final. “It’s kind of a surprise. The world record is not one of my big goals. I work to be at that level, and it’s great to get it, but I am not obsessed about it. Good work produce good results.”
The American shooter closed the Kneeling series in third with 153.9 points, and then moved up in the lead through the Prone series, with 311.6 points, before sealing the victory in the Standing position.
“Today was kind of a crazy day. I worked really smart in the qualifications, and I was super happy with my 1184 score. During the final, the kneeling part was fine, I worked hard and I was really happy with what my position was doing. Prone was normal. And then the Standing did not feel that great, but I was taking really good shots, some deep 10s.” Emmons said, commenting on his match.
The 35-year old champion won the first world cup of the year in Bangkok, and finished second at the following pre-Olympic world cup in Rio de Janeiro, collecting medals on his Olympic preparation path.
“I have been shooting a lot lately. Traveling a lot, competing… After today, I can take a break for a week or two. I will relax at home, and then I will get back into it, with 6 or 7 weeks to go to the Olympics,” he added, talking about his preparation for the Games.
“Comparing my previous Olympics with Rio 2016? I am older and wiser. I definitely don’t have any monkeys on my back anymore, I got rid of that in London already. Now I am enjoying what I am doing. Things are really coming together the way that I wanted.”
To finish atop of the podium today, Emmons beat Serbia’s Milenko Sebic, 31, ranked 36th in the world, who closed the match in second place with 460.1 points, 4 points behind him. The 22-year old Austrian shooter Gernot Rumpler took the Bronze, with 448.0 points.
The 2015 European Games champion, France’s two-time Olympian Valerian Sauveplane, 35, missed the podium at his last shot, finishing in fourth with 438.2 points.
The reigning Olympic Champion Niccolo Campriani, 28, and the 2010 World Champion Peter Sidi of Hungary, 37, dropped out of the final at the first elimination, taking seventh and eighth place with 404.2 and 402.6 points, respectively. Ukraine’s first-time finalist Oleh Tsarkov, 28, finished in sixth with 414.8 points, following Croatia’s Petar Gorsa, 28, the 2015 European Games silver medalist, who took today’s 5th place with 427.7 points
After 10 out 10 events conducted at the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Munich (GER), the overall medal standings sees the People’s Republic of China atop of the table, with 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medal. Serbia follows in second place, with 2 Gold and 1 Silver, while the Ukraine places third with one medal of each color.
738 athletes coming from 88 countries traveled to Munich to participate in this third world cup stage of the season. The ISSF World Cup Series moves now on to San Marino, where a Shotgun shooting world cup stage will be held from the 1st through the 10th of June. The next appointment with Rifle and Pistol shooters is set for the 20th of June, when the fourth and last world cup stage of the season will kick-off in Baku, Azerbaijan.