London 2012 50 Rifle 3 Positions Olympic champion Niccolo CAMPRIANI of Italy won today’s 10m Air Rifle Men final at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro, securing Italy’s first Rio 2016 Shooting sport medal.
The 28-year old athlete, who had won silver in this even four years ago in London, beat Serhiy KULISH of the Ukraine on the last two shots of the final, firing 10.6 and 10.7 to Kulish’s 10.4 and 9.8, and climbed atop of the podium with a final score of 206.1 points (Final Olympic Record). Kulish claimed silver with 204.6 points.
The Italian athlete led the match since this morning’s qualification, when he set a new Olympic record of 630.2 points to finish atop of the table.
But qualification scores are not carried into the final anymore, after the 2013 ISSF Rules changes, so Campriani had to re-build his lead through the final match, with an exceptional series of 10s (he only shoot four 9s out of 20 final shots).
“Today’s is my first gold medal in this event since the rules have changed, basically since 2012. Quite a good timing to come back!” The Italian shooter said, smiling after the match.
“The final has been really tough. There was so much pressure during the match. The Indian supporters cheering for Bindra were really loud. The atmosphere in the final hall was great, but I had to cope with the noise: Brindra was shooting faster than me, and I was always triggering amid the reaction of the crowd.”
“I recorded the audio of the 10m Air Rifle Women final, two days ago, and I have been training with that in my earphones over the last couple of days to get used to it.”
“I have two more competitions in front of me, here in Rio. I still need to concentrate, and it won’t be easy after today’s victory.”
“I can’t describe my emotions. I would like to dedicate this medal to my girlfriend Petra Zublasing (an Italian rifle shooter also competing here in Rio, ed.). She always stood next to me, also in the difficult moments.”
“Niccolò is a true champion, not just because he won today, but for all he has done in the last four years in the lead up to Rio, adapting to the new competition format.” Petra Zublasing commented after the match.
Today’s Bronze medal went to Russia’s 21-year old Vladimir MASLENNIKOV, who claimed the 400th Olympic medal of his country in the history of the Games with a final score of 184.2 points. The young athlete had won Gold at the pre-Olympic world cup held here in Rio last April.
“That experience helped me a lot, as I arrived here knowing the range and the final hall,” said the 2014 Junior World Champion, competing in his first Olympic edition.
To finish upon the podium, Maslennikov upset the 2008 Olympic Champion Abhinav BINDRA of India, who closed today’s match in fourth place with 163.8 points.
Bindra ranked among the firsts thorough the whole match, but after the 16th shot he lost a shoot-off against Kulish, landing out of the podium by a few tenths.
Rio 2016 Shooting sport’s day-3 continues now with the men’s Trap Final, to be held at 15.00 (uTC-3). Follow this link to find out where to watch the match in your country: http://go.olympic.org/ISSF