Rifle alumnus Matt Emmons wins bronze medal in men's three-position
August 6, 2012
Alaska Nanooks rifle alumnus Matt Emmons (Mt. Holly, N.J.) overcame misfires in his two previous Olympic apperances to capture bronze and his first Olympic medal in the men's 50-meter three position shooting event on Monday.
While he missed out on a silver medal with an off-center final shot, Emmons was pleased to add another Olympic medal to his career collection and to represent his team and country on the podium.
"It's never over until it's over," Emmons said. "Anytime you can be on the podium at the Olympics is a pretty cool thing. After the last shot I looked down and thought 'hey, I got bronze, cool'."
Emmons, who was a Nanook from 1999-2003, was second heading into the last of 10 shots in the eight-man final and a 8.9 would have clinched the silver for him. In two previous Olympics the former Nanook had missed gold medals in the same event with tragic final shots that included a cross fire to the target a lane over and a premature misfire. This time he hit his own target but missed the center ring.
"I knew it was low and to the right. I just didn't know how far because I was shaking so much," said Emmons.
After shooting 10.5 or better on the previous three shots, and 10.1 or better on six of the previous nine, Emmons fired a 7.6 in the 10th round.
"There was a lot of buildup to today, basically the weight of the world on my shoulders on how I was going to perform and if I was able to make the final, how I was going to do it and was I going to do on that last shot. It was really tough to deal with."
Emmons has endured more than a couple of bad shots in his career as he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2010 and underwent treatment.
"It gave me a lot of perspective on a lot of things. Honestly, just to be here is a provilege for me after going through a sidutation like that," Emmons said. "Just to be alive is good."
The three-time Olympic participant, eight-time NCAA All-American, four-time NCAA Team Champion and four-time individual NCAA Champion, finished second in the qualifying round with 1,172.
Niccolo Campriani of Italy, also a West Virginia grad, won gold in the event with a final score and Olympic record of 128.5 (1,180 in qualifying round and 98.5 in the final). Kim Jonghyun got the silver medal with a 1272.5 (1,171, 101.5).