Shooting at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Mixed 300 metre free rifle, three positions

The mixed 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1968 Summer Olympics programme. It was the 10th appearance of the event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 23 October 1968, with 30 shooters from 16 nations competing.[1] Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Gary Anderson of the United States, the only person to successfully defend an Olympic title in the event (and one of only three to win multiple medals of any color). It was the United States' third gold medal in the event, most of any nation. Valentin Kornev extended the Soviet Union's podium streak in the event to five Games with his silver. Swiss shooter Kurt Müller took bronze.

Mixed 300 metre free rifle, three positions
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Gary Anderson (1976)
VenueVicente Suárez Shooting Range
Date23 October
Competitors30 from 16 nations
Winning score1157 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gary Anderson
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Valentin Kornev
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kurt Müller
 Switzerland
← 1964
(men's)
1972 →

As with all shooting events in 1968, the event was open to women for the first time. Though the event switched from men's to (formally) mixed, it is generally considered the same event—for example, the Official Report writes that Anderson successfully defended his title.[2] While women did compete in shooting in 1968, none competed in this event.

Background

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This was the 10th appearance of the 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.[3][4] Three of the top 10 shooters from 1964 returned: gold medalist Gary Anderson of the United States, silver medalist Shota Kveliashvili of the Soviet Union, and seventh-place finisher Kurt Müller of Switzerland. Anderson had won the last two world championships (1962 and 1966) and set the world record as well the Tokyo 1964 Olympic gold.[5]

East Germany made its separate debut in the event. Finland, Sweden, and the United States each made their ninth appearance, tied for most of all nations.

Competition format

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The competition had each shooter fire 120 shots, 40 shots in each position. 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.[5]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Gary Anderson (USA) 1156 Wiesbaden, West Germany 1966
Olympic record   Gary Anderson (USA) 1153 Tokyo, Japan 15 October 1964

Gary Anderson broke his own world record with 1157 to repeat as Olympic champion.

Schedule

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All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 23 October 1968 Final

Results

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Rank Shooter Nation Score Notes
Prone Kneeling Standing Total
  Gary Anderson   United States 394 389 374 1157 WR
  Valentin Kornev   Soviet Union 398 384 369 1151
  Kurt Müller   Switzerland 395 379 374 1148
4 Shota Kveliashvili   Soviet Union 394 383 365 1142
5 Erwin Vogt   Switzerland 398 384 358 1140
6 Hartmut Sommer   East Germany 389 384 367 1140
7 John Foster   United States 386 386 368 1140
8 Petre Șandor   Romania 394 376 368 1138
9 Elling Øvergård   Norway 397 382 356 1135
10 Lajos Papp   Hungary 391 385 359 1135
11 Juhani Laakso   Finland 382 386 367 1135
12 Jan Kůrka   Czechoslovakia 391 380 362 1133
13 Sven Johansson   Sweden 393 386 350 1129
14 Bjørn Bakken   Norway 392 380 357 1129
15 Ryszard Fandier   Poland 389 381 357 1127
16 Ferenc Petrovácz   Hungary 390 379 357 1126
17 Kurt Johansson   Sweden 395 385 345 1125
18 Ondrej Šima   Czechoslovakia 391 378 352 1121
19 Osmo Ala-Honkola   Finland 391 384 345 1120
20 Eugeniusz Pędzisz   Poland 385 376 356 1117
21 Olegario Vázquez   Mexico 389 365 356 1110
22 Adolfo Feliciano   Philippines 378 371 359 1108
23 Uto Wunderlich   East Germany 377 374 356 1107
24 Ștefan Kaban   Romania 392 367 343 1102
25 José González   Mexico 370 366 356 1092
26 Wu Tao-yan   Taiwan 378 369 338 1085
27 Yondonjamtsyn Batsükh   Mongolia 390 364 328 1082
28 Bernardo San Juan   Philippines 379 349 332 1060
29 José Marroquín   Guatemala 380 333 314 1027
30 Félipe Ortiz   Guatemala 377 343 303 1023

References

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  1. ^ "Shooting at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Mixed Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 425.
  3. ^ "Historical Results". ISSF. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  4. ^ The event was only open to women in 1968 and 1972; before that, it was a men's event only.
  5. ^ a b "Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Mixed". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 December 2020.