The 2015 ISSF World Cup Final in Munich was closed today by the last medal match, the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final, which saw the success of London 2012 bronze medallist Matthew Emmons of USA.
The 34-year old shooter scored 458.8 points, and claimed his sixth world cup final title since 2002, as well as a spot in the Rio 2016 US Olympic team.
On his way to the highest step of the podium, Emmons beat the winner of yesterday's 10m Air Rifle Men final, China's 19-year old shooter Yang Haoran, who closed the match in second place with 458.2 points setting a new Final Junior World Record (junior records can be achieved also in senior finals).
The title defender and reigning European Champion Sergey Kamenskiy of Russia (27) followed them in third, with 447.0 points.
“I can't say it was easy, that's for sure.” Emmons said right after the final. “Really the biggest thing for me here was to try to qualify for the Olympic team. And that means I needed a medal.”
“I am really happy with the kneeling position, that's something I have been working hard on. Prone was fine. Then I started-off the standing position with a rough first series, but then I shot good,” the American shooter said, commenting on his final match.
“Once I knew that I was at least third, I got so excited: that meant I had made it into the Olympic team. It was so hard for me to calm back down for the next two shots and shoot at least decently. But I still made two fair shots, and that was enough to win.”
“Now I made the US Olympic team for the 50m Rifle 3 Position event. I will have to shoot the trials for the 50m Rifle Prone next April. We'll see.” He concluded.
The 85 best rifle and pistol shooters of the world, selected throughout this year's four world cup stages in Changwon (KOR), Fort Benning (USA), Munich (GER) and Gabala (AZE), have been competing in this year's ISSF Wolrd Cup Final, held at the 1972 Olympic shooting range in Munich starting from the 2nd of September.
While Munich's was the last competition of the year for rifle and pistol athletes, the ISSF season continues for shotgun shooters. Indeed, the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Championship will be conducted in Lonato, Italy, from the 9th through the 18th of September. The first medal match, the women's trap final, is due on the 11th of September. Follow the event live on www.issf-sports.org