Kim Jong-hyun wins silver in men's 50-meter rifle 3 positions

Published : Aug 6, 2012 - 23:25 Updated : Aug 6, 2012 - 23:25

South Korean Kim Jong-hyun won the silver medal in the men's 50-meter rifle 3 positions event Monday at the London Olympics.

Kim fired 1,272.5 points total for his first Olympic medal. He shot 1,171 points in qualification and 101.5 points in the final.

Niccolo Campriani of Italy cruised to the gold with 1,278.5 points, while Matthew Emmons of the U.S. took the bronze at 1,271.3 points.

Kim erased a 1.6-point deficit against Emmons with the final shot of a 10.4 out of the maximum 10.9, while the American only managed a 7.6 to fall to third.

Campriani, who'd set the Olympic record in qualification with 1,180 out of 1,200 possible points, was never challenged in the final, and others were reduced to playing for second place.

Kim Jong-hyun wins the silver medal in the men's 50-meter rifle 3 positions even on Monday at the London Olympics. (London Olympic Joint Press Corps)

Kim was rated the fifth-best qualifier among eight after the morning round in three positions --- prone, standing and kneeling. He tied two others at 1,171 points but was ranked fifth based on the number of perfect 10s.

Kim hit a 10.3 and a 10.7 with his first two shots and moved into second. He stayed there until the seventh shot, when Emmons' 10.7 put him ahead of the Korean by 0.1.

Emmons found a 10.6 and a 10.5 with his next two shots, while Kim fell further back after a 9.5 with his ninth. But then Emmons, the 2004 Olympic champion in prone, shot an uncharacteristic 7.6 against Kim's 10.4, his eighth score in the 10s in the final.

Kim's is South Korea's first rifle Olympic medal in 12 years. The country has picked up three gold and one silver medals in London from pistol events.

(Yonhap News)