Shooting Day 7 Review: Another medal for the Emmons family
(BEIJING, August 15) — The Emmons family won its third medal of Beijing 2008 when Matthew Emmons won a silver medal in the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone today.
Emmons’ silver medal joins the gold and silver medals that his wife Katerina won in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and the Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions.
Emmons will be disappointed that he could not reproduce the gold medal he won in the event at Athens 2004, but he was satisfied with his performance today.
“It’s the best match of my life. It is the best I can shoot. It’s very hard to walk into a final two points behind. It’s not impossible to come back from that, but it’s very difficult,” said Emmons.
Emmons finished the qualification round in second place with a total of 597, two points behind eventual gold medalist Artur Ayvazian of Ukraine.
Ayvazian shot consistently in the final and was able to defend his lead, winning the gold medal with a final score of 702.7 points. Emmons finished with a total score of 701.7.
Ayvazian, 35, finished ninth in the event at Athens 2004 and believes his previous Olympic experience helped him win the gold medal.
“I am not surprised because I have participated in the Olympics three times and I have done a lot of preparation work,” said Ayvazian.
Ayvazian is the first Ukrainian to win a gold medal in the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone.
