The mixed 300 m rifle three positions was an event at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. This was the final time that free rifle was contested at the Olympics. Soviet shooter

Boris Melnik Boris Melnik (2 February 1945 – 24 November 2016) was a Soviet sports shooter. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social ...

was leading 1155 to 1154 when the unofficial scores were posted, but the official scoring brought American

Lones Wigger Lones Wesley Wigger Jr. (August 25, 1937, Great Falls, Montana – December 14, 2017, Colorado Springs, Colorado) was an American sports shooter. Wigger was a member of the United States Olympic team on three occasions, winning two Olympic Gold ...

up to 1155, Wigger won the

tie breaker In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests. General operation In matches In some situations, the tiebreaker may consi ...

with a better score on the last string fired kneeling, 97, versus 96 for Melnik. It was the third consecutive victory in the event for the United States; the Soviet Union had taken at least one medal each of the six times it competed before the event was discontinued.

Lajos Papp Lajos Papp (8 April 1944 – 31 October 1993) was a Hungarian sport shooter who won a bronze medal in the 300 m free rifle event at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad ( ...

of Hungary took bronze.

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.The event was open to women only in 1968 and 1972; before that, it was a men's event only. Three of the top 10 shooters from 1964 returned: silver medalist

Valentin Kornev Valentin Mikhaylovich Kornev (russian: Валентин Михайлович Корнев, 29 August 1942 – 18 November 2016) was a Soviet sport shooter who won the silver medal in the 300 m free rifle event at the 1968 Summer Olympics Th ...

of the Soviet Union, eighth-place finisher Petre Șandor of Romania, and tenth-place finisher

of Hungary. Kornev was the reigning (1970) world champion. Cuba, North Korea, Paraguay, and West Germany each made its debut in the event. Finland, Sweden, and the United States each made their 10th appearance, tied for most of all nations.

Competition format

The competition had each shooter fire 120 shots, 40 shots in each position (prone, standing, and kneeling). Shots were fired in series of 10. The target was 1 metre in diameter, with 10 scoring rings; targets were set at a distance of 300 metres. Thus, the maximum score possible was 1200 points. Any rifle could be used. All ties were broken by the best score on the final string of kneeling, if still tied the best score on the final string of standing, followed by prone.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)

Results

References

External links

Official report pg. 232
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics - 300 metre free rifle Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics Men's 300m 3 positions