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Emmons: Silver and 2008 Nomination
By Mary Beth Vorwerk // USA Shooting // October 5, 2007
BANGKOK, Thailand (October 5, 2007) – Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J./Fairbanks, Alaska), a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, captured the silver medal today in the Men’s Prone Rifle Event at the 2007 ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup. With his second place finish, Emmons also earned a nomination to the 2008 Olympic Team.
After the preliminary 60, Sergei Martynov of Belarus was leading the competition with a score of 599. Emmons was in second with 597 and Warren Potent of Australia was in the third spot with 596. Two-time Olympian Tom Tamas (Columbus, Ga.) of the U.S. was in fifth place with 593.
Emmons shot a final score of 105.7 and caught Martynov on the last shot to tie the game and force a sudden death shoot off. Martynov shot a 10.8, while Emmons shot a 10.2 to secure the silver medal.
Emmons earned a nomination to the U.S. Olympic Team for one of the Men's Prone Rifle quota slots by earning points through selected international competitions. The second Men's Prone Olympic team position will go to the winner of the Olympic Selection match in May at Ft. Benning, Ga.
"Matt Emmons and Tom Tamas entered this competition neck and neck for the slot. Their results on the international match scene have truly been outstanding for the last two years and they have pushed each other to elite levels,” said Major Dave Johnson, National Rifle Coach. “The Olympic Selection procedure was designed both select our top athletes for the Olympic Team and to better prepare our top athletes for international success. Both Tom and Matt have demonstrated the ability to succeed at the top of our sport and either could have earned this slot and contended for the Olympic podium next year."
Eighty-six athletes from 29 countries are competing at the 2007 ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup Final, which is being held in Bangkok, Thailand. Competition runs through October 7.
The top shooters in the world are invited by the ISSF to attend the World Cup Final based on performances in the World Cup circuit throughout the year.
Tomorrow’s competition will include the men’s 50m Three-Position Rifle event and the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event. Emmons as well as 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Mike Anti (Winterville, N.C.) will compete in the three-position event and Keith Sanderson (San Antonio, Texas) will compete in the rapid fire event. Sunday’s competition will showcase U.S. shooters Emmons and Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) in Men’s and Women’s 10m Air Rifle.
For complete Rifle/Pistol World Cup Final results, please visit the following link on the ISSF TV website:
http://www.issf.tv/issftv_table.aspx?mod=csdt&pane=10&inst=1&iist=721&collapse=results.
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