Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Mixed 300 metre free rifle, three positions explained

Event:	Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics – 300 metre free rifle
Games:	1972 Summer
Date:	September 2, 1972
Competitors:	33
Nations:	20
Longnames:	yes
Goldnoc:	USA
Silvernoc:	URS
Bronzenoc:	HUN
Win Label:	Winning score
Win Value:	1155
Prev:	1968

The mixed 300 m rifle three positions was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics. This was the final time that free rifle was contested at the Olympics. Soviet shooter Boris Melnik was leading 1155 to 1154 when the unofficial scores were posted, but the official scoring brought American Lones Wigger up to 1155; Wigger won the tie breaker with a better score on the last string fired kneeling, 97, versus 96 for Melnik.^[1] 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 after 1972. Lajos Papp 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.^{[2] [3]} Three of the top 10 shooters from 1964 returned: silver medalist Valentin Kornev of the Soviet Union, eighth-place finisher Petre Șandor of Romania, and tenth-place finisher Lajos Papp of Hungary. Kornev was the reigning (1970) world champion.^[4]

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.^[4]

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 Central European Time (UTC+1)

Results

Rank	Shooter	Nation	Position	Series				Total	Score
				1	2	3	4
			Prone	97	99	98	100	394	1155
	Standing	95	96	93	95	379
	Kneeling	95	95	95	97	382
			Prone	98	98	99	99	394	1155
	Standing	93	94	95	92	374
	Kneeling	93	99	99	96	387
			Prone	100	99	99	96	394	1149
	Standing	90	92	89	93	364
	Kneeling	99	94	99	99	391
4			Prone	99	98	97	99	393	1149
	Standing	91	93	90	94	368
	Kneeling	97	97	96	98	388
5			Prone	98	99	99	98	394	1146
	Standing	92	94	92	92	370
	Kneeling	94	96	94	98	382
6			Prone	100	99	100	97	396	1146
	Standing	89	91	96	88	364
	Kneeling	96	98	98	94	386
7			Prone	98	96	97	98	389	1144
	Standing	92	94	89	93	368
	Kneeling	96	96	97	98	387
8			Prone	97	97	98	99	391	1143
	Standing	89	92	93	91	365
	Kneeling	96	99	96	96	387
9			Prone	98	97	97	95	387	1141
	Standing	93	91	91	90	365
	Kneeling	95	98	97	99	389
10			Prone	100	98	95	97	390	1141
	Standing	95	90	92	89	366
	Kneeling	99	98	95	93	385
11			Prone	100	97	99	98	394	1140
	Standing	93	84	89	92	358
	Kneeling	99	95	98	96	388
12			Prone	97	99	99	96	391	1139
	Standing	91	91	93	86	361
	Kneeling	97	97	97	96	387
13			Prone	97	100	100	97	394	1139
	Standing	90	89	96	94	369
	Kneeling	94	97	91	94	376
14			Prone	100	99	99	99	397	1138
	Standing	89	90	87	90	356
	Kneeling	94	97	96	98	385
15			Prone	99	98	99	95	391	1137
	Standing	89	93	95	96	373
	Kneeling	94	91	95	93	373
16			Prone	97	95	97	97	386	1135
	Standing	90	92	92	95	369
	Kneeling	93	89	99	99	380
17			Prone	98	99	98	97	392	1133
	Standing	90	90	91	90	361
	Kneeling	96	92	96	96	380
18			Prone	96	98	98	95	387	1132
	Standing	85	92	94	86	357
	Kneeling	99	95	97	97	388
19			Prone	98	100	97	97	392	1131
	Standing	92	87	94	90	363
	Kneeling	92	94	94	96	376
20			Prone	96	96	98	98	388	1131
	Standing	90	88	92	92	362
	Kneeling	95	98	95	93	381
21			Prone	95	97	96	97	385	1127
	Standing	94	89	85	91	359
	Kneeling	93	98	97	95	383
22			Prone	99	95	94	97	385	1126
	Standing	85	93	90	91	359
	Kneeling	93	95	97	97	382
23			Prone	96	99	98	96	389	1126
	Standing	86	90	92	91	359
	Kneeling	98	94	91	95	378
24			Prone	99	98	98	98	393	1125
	Standing	88	88	92	93	361
	Kneeling	93	91	93	94	371
25			Prone	97	99	97	98	391	1121
	Standing	85	88	94	90	357
	Kneeling	94	97	91	91	373
26			Prone	94	92	92	95	373	1114
	Standing	90	92	90	94	366
	Kneeling	94	93	92	96	375
27			Prone	97	93	95	94	379	1112
	Standing	90	88	93	90	361
	Kneeling	91	93	98	90	372
28			Prone	96	95	97	94	382	1102
	Standing	91	89	85	86	351
	Kneeling	92	90	94	93	369
29			Prone	95	98	96	93	382	1100
	Standing	81	86	88	87	342
	Kneeling	93	94	96	93	376
30			Prone	96	96	96	97	385	1085
	Standing	81	87	85	82	335
	Kneeling	94	90	92	89	365
31			Prone	100	97	98	100	395	1078
	Standing	72	78	87	82	319
	Kneeling	87	91	90	96	364
32			Prone	97	91	96	90	374	1067
	Standing	82	83	88	79	332
	Kneeling	93	91	87	90	361
33			Prone	96	93	89	92	370	1030
	Standing	75	88	85	74	322
	Kneeling	85	84	85	84	338
-			Prone
	Standing
	Kneeling
-	Alvaro Cleopatofsky		Prone
	Standing
	Kneeling
-	Emilian Vergov		Prone
	Standing
	Kneeling

External links

• Official report pg. 232

Notes and References

1. Web site: Shooting at the 1972 München Summer Games: Mixed Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres. https://web.archive.org/web/20200418015802/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/SHO/mixed-free-rifle-three-positions-300-metres.html. dead. 18 April 2020. 25 May 2012 . Sports Reference.
2. Web site: Historical Results . ISSF . 12 December 2020.
3. The event was open to women only in 1968 and 1972; before that, it was a men's event only.
4. Web site: Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Mixed . Olympedia . 11 December 2020.