Campriani shoots gold in 50m rifle

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Italian marksman Niccolo Campriani struck gold in the men's 50-metre rifle three positions as Matt Emmons' last-shot curse struck yet again.

Engineering student Campriani won silver in the 10m air rifle earlier this week and went one better on the final day of competition at the Woolwich Barracks.
The destination of the gold was never in doubt after Campriani started the final with an eight-point lead having smashed the Olympic record in qualifying with a score of 1180 - and he finished six points clear with a combined Olympic best.
But there was drama behind him with Emmons, who famously blew winning positions to miss out on the medals in the same event at the last two Olympics, lying second with a 1.6-point lead with one round to go.
And once again the American fluffed his lines with comfortably the worst shot of the final, a 7.6, allowing South Korea's Kim Jonghyun to snatch silver with a 10.4.
Emmons did at least manage a bronze, with Cyril Graff of France just 0.3 points behind.
Just as he was after his miss in Beijing, Emmons was philosophical about that last shot.
"It's never over until it's over," he said.
"Anytime you can be on the podium at the Olympics is a pretty cool thing. After the last shot I looked down and thought 'hey, I got bronze, cool!'
"I couldn't see the monitor or hear the announcer, so when it was over I just looked to see where I was.
"The one thing I'm happy about - and it's not the favourite match I ever shot - but I got everything honestly.
"If I'm nervous and make a mistake then I make a mistake, and that's what happened."
Campriani, who was the first athlete from any sport to qualify for London 2012 when he won a World Cup event two years earlier, added: "It's not how you win but how you handle the loss that makes you a champion.
"Matt is incredible, in Beijing he was smiling after 10 minutes, it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen on a shooting range.
"He's an inspiration to me and a great champion."