With a gold medal all but secured with one shot to go, American star shooter Matthew Emmons shocked fans off their chairs Sunday.
Emmons had a comfortable lead and was a trigger pull away from gold. He did not win a single medal. He shot a 4.4 on the last shot of the final of men's 50m 3 positions blowing his title again.
Matthew Emmons is conforted by his wife Katerina. [Agencies]
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Four years ago in Athens he dropped from first place to last after shooting the wrong target, handing China's Jia Zhanbo a medal. Sunday, he handed another Chinese shooter the title. (see report on right)
Emmons' miss allowed Qiu Jian to overcome a 0.1 deficit to take the gold with 1,272.5 points followed by Jury Sukhorukov of Ukraine and Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia.
The fact that Emmons, who won silver in the 50m rifle prone, came fourth despite a 4.4 underscores how good a day he was having. The American led throughout the entire event and was leading by a comfortable margin of 3.4 before pulling the trigger for the last time. He was the last one to shoot and spectators were set to cheer the winner.
His shot left people speechless. His wife Katerina Emmons, who took the first gold at the Beijing Games in women's 10m air rifle, was the guest commentator for a Czech TV station at the spot. She could not speak, watching the score with her mouth open.
Just as she did four years ago, Katerina went to console her husband, kissing and hugging him.
"Before the last shot, I was thinking really the same thing as I did in the previous round. It's just the routine I was doing. I was just thinking about my competitions I shot at home, which was really comfortable and relaxing. To be honest, I felt really good as I picked up the gun and I was feeling comfortable. Of course I was a little bit more nervous but that's normal and I am used to that," Emmons said.
Katerina could not believe this mysterious mistake happened again. "It's just not meant to be. There is no reason for this to happen. So if it does, there's got to be a reason. He never does that.
"It's unbelievable."
Bronze medalist Debevec thought what happened in Athens affected Emmons. "I know every human shooter can make a mistake. My friend's mistake was more than it should have been," he said.
But the couple is still upbeat. "The story is not finished yet. I will shoot for another four years and see what I can get at the London Games. To shoot a 4.4 in a final and still finish in fourth place, that's pretty damn good," said Emmons.