Matt Emmons poses with his gold medal in men's three-position rifle at the Olympic Shooting Range Munich/Hochbrueck at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol on May 25, 2016 in Munich.
Matt Emmons served notice that he will be a force to be reckoned with in Rio this summer by winning the men’s three-position rifle competition to close out the rifle/pistol world cup event Wednesday in Munich. The 44th world cup medal of his illustrious career comes just two days after he won bronze in the men’s rifle prone in Germany.
The three-time Olympic medalist set a finals world record with his score of 464.1 points, easily surpassing the 460.1 by silver medalist Milenko Sebic of Serbia. Austria’s Gernot Rumpler won bronze with a 448.0.
The win solidifies Emmons’ hold on the No. 1 world ranking as the Rio 2016 Olympic Games draw near, an indication that he is ready to improve on his bronze-medal finish in London. He was the 2004 Olympic champion in prone and won silver in the same event in Beijing. He also has claimed three world championship medals (one gold, two bronzes) to his credit.
After a medals drought in 2013 and 2014, Emmons is back in podium form. In 2015 he won gold in prone and silver in three-position at the 2015 world cup event in Changwon, China, earning the U.S. an Olympic quota spot in prone. He backed that performance with a bronze in three-position at the world cup event in the U.S., and also took two national titles (prone and three-position) last year.
