What Happened to Emmons?

[RobH]

I just looked at the 3-P results. Matt's last finals shot was a 0.0. He only needed a 7.2 to take the gold. Anybody know what happened on that last shot?

[David Levene]

I just looked at the 3-P results. Matt's last finals shot was a 0.0. He only needed a 7.2 to take the gold. Anybody know what happened on that last shot?

Just saw it on the BBC. He cross shot.

[RobH]

What a bummer!

[David Levene]

As you would expect, he looked devastated.

[Pradeep]

Apparently the crossfire was a 10.6, which helped give the bronze to Christian Planer of Austria.



"China's Jia Zhanbo claimed the gold medal in the men's 50-metre rifle three-position target event at the Athens Olympics, after American Matthew Emmons was ruled to have fired at the wrong target on the verge of victory.

Emmons was an almost uncatchable three points ahead as he took his very last shot, but got an extraordinary score of zero with the final bullet and dropped out of contention.

There was initial confusion, with a puzzled Emmons checking his rifle, before the judges concluded he had fired at the target of the Austrian shooting in the lane to his right.

Although it could not be immediately confirmed, Emmons may have inadvertently helped Christian Planer to the bronze medal with his wayward last shot.

The Austrian had been in fifth position when he was credited with a final-shot bullseye.

That was Planer's best scoring shot of the final round, worth 10.6 points, and catapulted him up to third place.

Emmons was dropped from first to eighth place with the zero in the final round.

Michael Anti of the United States moved up to second place to win the silver medal.

Emmons had won the gold in the 50-metre prone position event on Friday."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20 ... 182452.htm

[Val]

Apparently the crossfire was a 10.6, which helped give the bronze to Christian Planer of Austria.

10.6 was the Planer's score on the final round.
8.1 was the Emmon's crossfire on Planer's target. (which would be enough for the gold, had it been the Emmon's target)

[Spencer C]

Apparently the crossfire was a 10.6, which helped give the bronze to Christian Planer of Austria.

10.6 was the Planer's score on the final round.
8.1 was the Emmon's crossfire on Planer's target. (which would be enough for the gold, had it been the Emmon's target)

Yep! One of the great advantages of electronic targets is that these things can usually be worked out witout too much trouble.

Regards,
Spencer

[Bill Poole]

Some very clear pictures of Matt in the finals are posted at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004- ... 862181.htm

Poole
1450 training days till Beijing

[Bill Poole]

And there is Video at http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2004-08 ... 856098.htm

Poole

[Guest]

Amazing that with all of his experience and his great results in the last few years ... this could happen at an Olympic Finals!

Wonderful result for Anti ... and of course fabulous Gold for Matt in Prone ... can you imagine how close we came to having three shooting Golds and a Silver !

[Guest]

American Matthew Emmons fired at the wrong target on the verge of victory in
the Olympics men's 50-metre rife three-position target event to surrender an
almost certain gold medal to China's Jia Zhanbo on Monday.

Emmons was an almost uncatchable three points ahead as he took his last shot
but got an extraordinary score of zero when his final bullet completely
missed and he dropped out of contention into eighth.

Michael Anti of the United States moved up to second place to win the silver
medal and Austria's Christian Planer jumped to third for bronze.

There was initial confusion, with a puzzled Emmons checking his rifle and
believing there had been a scoreboard malfunction, before the judges
concluded he had fired at the target of Planer shooting in the lane to his
right.

"Stuff happens," said accountant student Emmons, 23, who was going for
his
second gold in the Games having won the men's 50m rifle prone.

"That's sports. That's the Olympics. I shot a cross-fire and didn't deserve
the gold medal."

With no score for Emmons on the scoreboard, officials quickly went to the
American standing in lane two and examined his rifle. They were about to
order him to shoot again.

But before that happened they noticed that two shots were registered on the
target in lane three - Planer's.

They ruled Emmons fired at the wrong target and gave him a score of zero for
round 10 which cost him gold and dropped him to eighth.

"I thought it was a target malfunction, which sometimes happens. I didn't
think it could be a cross-fire because that almost never happens," Emmons
said.

"The officials thought the shot didn't register for some reason and wanted
to make me shoot again. Then they noticed there were two shots in the other
target."

It was first thought that Emmons may have inadvertently helped Planer to the
bronze medal with his wayward last shot. The Austrian had been in fifth
position when he was credited with a final-shot bullseye, his best shot of
the finals.

But officials studying replays later determined that Planer had indeed
scored a 10.6 on his shot and Emmons hit an 8.1 on Planer's target - which
would have been more than enough for gold had he hit his own target.

"I usually always look (through the scope) at the number above the target
first and then drop down to the target," said Emmons, who said he has never
had a cross-fire in international competition nor anywhere else in at least
six years.

"On the last shot I didn't look at the (target) number first," added Emmons,
who won his earlier gold on Friday.

"I was just working on calming myself down and getting a good shot off. I
should have looked."

[Guest]

So when all is said and done, it's NOT the jacket, it's NOT the trousers, it's NOT the boots, gun, ammo, or blinders - its the BRAIN !!!

[sharpshooter]

Michael Anti also could have had gold, exept for the fact that he shot an additional shot in one of his kneeling targets, which gave him a deduction of 2 points. If the deduction didn't happen, and Emmons didn't crossfire, the US would have taken gold and silver.

[Grzegorz]

What? Additional shot? And what? Shooter is allowed to make TWO such mistakes without any amandment. Third mistake causes -2 points... Did he shoot 41 shots in kneeling???

[Grzegorz]

What? Additional shot? And what? Shooter is allowed to make TWO such mistakes without any amandment. Third mistake causes -2 points... Did he shoot 41 shots in kneeling???

[David Levene]

What? Additional shot? And what? Shooter is allowed to make TWO such mistakes without any amandment. Third mistake causes -2 points... Did he shoot 41 shots in kneeling???

Must presume that he fired 41 shots in kneeling, 2 point deduction under 7.6.6.2.

I am not certain how that can happen with electronics, but then I have never closely watched what appears on the screen in a 3P match.

[Spencer C]

What? Additional shot? And what? Shooter is allowed to make TWO such mistakes without any amandment. Third mistake causes -2 points... Did he shoot 41 shots in kneeling???

7.6.6.3.1 (If a shooter fires more shots at one of his match targets than are provided for in the program of the event, he must not be penalized for
the first two (2) such occurrences.) is not really applicable to electronic targets and would apply if the shooter fired 2 or more shots at a paper target.

7.6.6.2 (Too many shots in an event or position - If a shooter fires more shots in the event or position than are provided for in the program, the extra shot(s) must be annulled ...a deduction of two (2) points for each excessive shot fired, deducted from the lowest value shot(s) in the first series.)

All brings up the matter of the results not being compliant with the 2000 ORIS specifications (I have not seen the latest ORIS) - the remarks column should carry a reference number for items such as penalties, and the reference number then repeated at the bottom of the results with a short explanation. Usually the particular rule number is sufficient, e.g. -2pts rule 7.6.6.2 would explain all

[Spencer C]

What? Additional shot? And what? Shooter is allowed to make TWO such mistakes without any amandment. Third mistake causes -2 points... Did he shoot 41 shots in kneeling???

Must presume that he fired 41 shots in kneeling, 2 point deduction under 7.6.6.2.

I am not certain how that can happen with electronics, but then I have never closely watched what appears on the screen in a 3P match.

presumably he did not notice the 'stop' on the monitor?

[pdeal]

That is what he said- he was concentrating on the shot and did not notice the "STOP"

[Guest]

a good loading block ought to cure that