Germany's Junghaenel claims the top of the Rifle Prone podium shooting just 1.2 points under his own Final World Record

The winner of the 2013 ISSF Shooter of the Year Award, Henri Junghaenel of Germany, climbed on the highest step of the 50m Rifle Prone Men podium, the first and only final scheduled for today at the ISSF World Cup stage in Rio de Janeiro (BRA).

Junghaenel stunning performance brought him only 1.2 points below his own World Record, set in Munich (GER) three years ago, allowing him to prevail over Australia’s Warrent Potent, the winner of the Rifle Prone Gold medal at the World Cup stage held last month in Bangkok (THA).

Both Junghaenel and Potent shot amazingly: the German shooter scored thirteen times 10.5 or better, while the Australian one missed the 10th-ring only twice in the whole match. In the end, Junghaenel finished with 210.0 points, 2.1 more than Potent’s 207.9.

"It definitely was a good day for me. I started off a little bit on the right, but once I fixed that the final was pretty awesome," declared Junghaenel after the medal ceremony. "After I placed sixth in Bangkok I made some adjustments, but I didn’t expect a win here. I’m pretty happy about it!"

"It’s been a great final. No doubt about that. The range need some minor fixes, but you can already say it’s a good range." He concluded.

Serbia’s Steven Pletikosic, whose last World Cup medal in this event was a Gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, completed the podium, finishing 3rd with 186.2 points.

Italy’s Niccolò Campriani, London 2012 Gold medallist in the 3 Positions event, missed the 10th-ring with both shots in his seventh series, sliding outside of the podium for just four-tenths of a point. He then concluded 4th with 165.3 points, followed by Kirill Grigoryan of the Russian Federation, 5th with 144.7, and by USA’s Matthew Emmons, Athens 2004 Olympic Gold medallist in this event, who placed 6th with 123.9.

Great Britain’s Kenneth Parr finished 7th with 101.8 points slightly improving his previous best placement in this event, an 8th place he nailed both in Gabala and Munich last year, while Rifle Prone first-time finalist Anton Rizov of Bulgaria closed in 8th place with 80.5 points.

The ISSF World Cup stage in Rio de Janeiro will continue tomorrow with the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women final, scheduled at 12:00 PM (UTC-3).

For the 50m Rifle Prone Men complete results click here.

For the competition schedule and the medal standings click here.

For editorial photos click here.

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