Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions

The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 1 December 1956, with 20 shooters from 14 nations competing.[1] Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Vasily Borisov of the Soviet Union, the nation's second consecutive victory in two appearances (tying Switzerland for most gold medals in the event). The Soviets finished 1–2, with Allan Erdman taking silver. Vilho Ylönen of Finland earned the bronze.

Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Vasily Borisov (1954)
VenueMelbourne, Australia
Date1 December
Competitors20 from 14 nations
Winning score1138 OR
Medalists
Vasily Borisov
 Soviet Union
Allan Erdman
 Soviet Union
Vilho Ylönen
 Finland
Shooting at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Rifle
300 metre riflemen
50 m rifle, three positionsmen
50 m rifle, pronemen
Pistol
25 m rapid fire pistolmen
50 metre pistolmen
Shotgun
Trapmen
Running deer
100 m running deermen

Background

This was the seventh appearance of the men's 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.[2] Only one of the top 10 shooters from 1952 returned: fifth-place finisher Vilho Ylönen of Finland. Reigning gold medalist and 1954 world champion Anatoli Bogdanov opted to compete only in small-bore events in 1956. This left his countryman Vasily Borisov, the runner-up at the world championship, as the favorite.[3]

The Republic of China, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, and South Korea each made their debut in the event. Denmark and Norway did not compete in the event for the first time; the Danes and Norwegians had competed in each of the first six appearances of the three-positions competition. Finland, Sweden, and the United States each made their sixth appearance, tied with Norway and Denmark for most appearances.

Competition format

The competition had each shooter fire 120 shots, 40 shots in each of three positions: prone, kneeling, and standing. 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.[3][4]

Records

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

World record Anatoli Bogdanov (URS)11431955
Olympic record Anatoli Bogdanov (URS)1123Helsinki, Finland27 July 1952

Vasily Borisov broke the Olympic record with 1138 points to win. All three medalists were above the old record. Borisov also set a world record in the prone position, with 396 points.[5]

Schedule

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 1 December 19569:00Final

Results
RankShooterNationScoreNotes
ProneKneelingStandingTotal
Vasily Borisov Soviet Union396 WR3833591138OR
Allan Erdman Soviet Union3923853601137
Vilho Ylönen Finland3873823591128
4Jorma Taitto Finland3923793491120
5Constantin Antonescu Romania3863743411101
6John Sundberg Sweden3843673431094
7Anders Kvissberg Sweden3893623421093
8James Smith United States3813683331082
9Sándor Krebs Hungary3793643351078
10Herbert Voelcker United States3853553351075
11Gerald Ouellette Canada3703573391066
12Rubén Váldez Peru3733383331044
13Martin Gison Philippines3873682881043
14Guillermo Baldwin Peru3793593021040
15Wu Tao-yan Republic of China3703493061025
16Ian Wrigley Australia3823502891021
17Norman Goff Australia3723432951010
18Steffen Cranmer Great Britain356336307999
19Chu Hwa-il South Korea338286279903
20Saifi Chaudhry Pakistan84—183267

References
  1. "Shooting at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  2. The event was open to women in 1968 and 1972.
  3. "Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  4. Official Report, p. 570.
  5. Official Report, p. 563.
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