Henri Junghaenel secured Gold at the 50m Rifle Prone final, at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro, today, pocketing Germany’s second rifle shooting gold medal in two days.
The 28-year old German athlete led throughout the whole final, zeroing in after a disappointing qualification (624.8 points, 8th place) to finish atop of the podium with 209.5 points (a new Final Olympic Record).
"It’s overwhelming, especially after I missed the last Olympic Games by just a very little, so I already accomplished everything with standing here in the final," said Junghaenel, commenting on the match.
“I was really upset after the qualification, because I did not shoot at my best. I made it into the final in last. So I tried to zero in and fight for a medal.”
Junghaenel upset Republic of Korea’s Kim Jonhyun (31), the London 2012’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions silver medalist, who finished in second with 208.2 points today, shooting-off Russia’s first time Olympian Kirill Grigorian (24) after the 18th shot with a great 10.9.
"I feel great. A little bit of sadness because there was a chance for other medals, but I am happy to get this one," said Kim.
Grigorian pocketed the Bronze with 187.3 points, landing in third place after having led the match by 0.1 points for a short moment after the 14th shot. "There’s a little bit of sadness because there was a chance for other medals, but I am happy to get this one."
“During the medal match, I started out really well, even though I was quite shaky. Then the position loosened up a little bit and I had to fight to keep it together," added Junghaenel.
“Having won the pre-Olympic world cup held here in Rio earlier this year helped me a lot, I carried that experience into today’s match.”
“I am a mechanical engineer, and I finished my master in July. After the Games I will be looking for a job. I really believe in the combination of sport, work and studies, that works well for me,” concluded the 28-year old.
The second Russian finalist, the current world record holder Sergey Kamenskiy (29) finished in 4th with 165.8 points, and was followed by Belarus’ four-time Olympian Vitali Bubnovic (41), 5th with 144.2 points.
The Italian team members Marco De Nicolo and Niccolo Campriani (the winner of the Rio 2016 men’s 10m Air Rifle final) closed the match in 6th and 7th place, with 123.6 and 102.8 points, respectively. Attapon Uea-aree of Thailand finished in 8th and last place with 80.8 points.
The action continues at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro, where the women’s Skeet final will take place at 15.00 (UTC-3).