Great Britain secured a rifle quota place for the Beijing Olympic Games at the European Championships in Granada when Performance Pathway shooter Jon Hammond took fourth place in the Men’s 50m Prone Rifle.  A new Personal Best score of 597 placed the 1998 World Junior Champion in equal second place going into the ten-shot final, just one point behind Marco De Nicolo of Italy, sharing second with three other shooters with a further two finalists only one point behind on 596. 

Jon Hammond in action

With four of the finalists eligible to take the three quota places on offer, a very tense and closely fought final ensued, with De Nicolo hanging on to his lead to secure the title.  Hammond’s final total of 700.0 narrowly missed out on the medals, the very experienced Artem Khadjibekov of Russia and Espen Berg-Knutsen of Norway taking silver and bronze with 700.7 and 700.6 respectively.  The quota places went to Norway, Great Britain and the Czech Republic in 3rd, 4th and 7th places respectively.

Men's Prone Final

Hammond, currently employed as the rifle coach at West Virginia University in the USA, returns to action on Sunday when he competes in the Men’s Three Positions event.