Aug. 15, 2008
BEIJING, China - Former Alaska Nanooks rifle team member Matt Emmons, the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist in Athens for the men's 50 meter prone event, was just one point short of defending his title Friday in Beijing, but managed to come away with some hardware, earning the United States a silver medal on Friday at the Shooting Range Hall: his first medal of the Beijing games and his second career Olympic medal.
Ayvazian was the highest-scoring shooter in the qualification round with a total of 599, one point shy of a perfect score. Emmons finished the qualification round in second place with a total of 597.
Norway's Vebjoern Berg finished the qualification round in third place with a total of 596. Four shooters were tied on 595, including Potent.
Ayvazian's performance in the final was solid, which was enough for him to hold onto the lead and win the gold medal. Emmons scored only 9.8 on his fourth shot, but he scored 10.8 on both his fifth and sixth shots, which helped him gain a lead over the rest of the field.
Potent was the best-performed shooter in the final, shooting a total of 105.5. His strong performance helped him overtake Russia's Konstantin Prikhodtchenko in third place.
After a perfect 10.9 on his third shot, Prikhodtchenko appeared capable of threatening Emmons for the silver medal. However, his game fell away after hitting 10.9 and he finished fifth, a tenth of a point behind Berg in fourth place.
Emmons will set his sights on his first gold medal of the Beijing games Sunday, August 17 (Saturday in Alaska), when he will shoot in his final event, the men's 50 meter rifle three position.
