Shooting at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions explained

The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the shooting at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1900. The competition was held on Tuesday, 2 July 1912.^[1] Eighty-four sport shooters from nine nations competed. The event was won by Paul Colas of France, the nation's first medal in the event. Denmark took the silver and bronze medals, as Lars Jørgen Madsen (in his third time competing in the event) finished second and Niels Larsen placed third.

Background

This was the third appearance of the men's 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.^{[2] [3]} Lars Jørgen Madsen of Denmark, who had taken fifth in 1900 and 14th in 1908, was competing once again. Other veterans of the 1908 Games competing again included the four Norwegians from the top 10 in 1908: gold medalist Albert Helgerud, bronze medalist Ole Sæther, sixth-place finisher Julius Braathe, and ninth-place finisher Olaf Sæther. Léon Johnson of France, the eighth-place finisher, also returned. None of the world champions competed.^[4]

Russia and South Africa made their debut in the event. Denmark, France, and Norway each made their third appearance, the only nations to have competed at every appearance of the event to date.

Competition format

The competition had each shooter fire 120 shots, 40 shots in each of three positions: prone, kneeling, and standing. 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, with an open fore sight and open back sight; any ammunition could be used. Ties were broken by hits on targets, then centre hits, then 10s, then 9s, etc.^{[4] [5]}

Records

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

The top ten shooters in 1912 broke the Olympic record. Paul Colas ended with the new record, at 987 points.

Results

Rank	Shooter	Nation	Total	Notes
			987
			981
			962
4			959
5			956
6			954
7			952
8			947
9			941
10			932
11			928
12			926
13			923
14			922
15			921
16			921
17			915
18			914
19			913
20			912
21			912
22			911
23			911
24			908
25			906
26			905
27			905
28			903
29			900
30			900
31			899
32			896
33			894
34			888
35			888
36			884
37			875
38			875
39			875
40			874
41			870
42			870
43			869
44			868
45			868
46			851
47			849
48			839
49			835
50			828
51			810
52			808
53			806
54			806
55			806
56			800
57			787
58			780
59			776
60			772
61			762
62			758
63			754
64			752
65			746
66			744
67			741
68			736
69			718
70			715
71			713
72			712
73			699
74			677
75			653
76			635
77			623
78			463
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External links

• Book: Bergvall, Erik (ed.) . Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). . 1913 . The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 . Wahlström & Widstrand . Stockholm.
• Web site: Wudarski . Pawel . 1999 . Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich . 26 January 2007. pl.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Shooting at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418124135/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/SHO/mens-free-rifle-three-positions-300-metres.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . 10 November 2014 . sports-reference.com.
2. Web site: Historical Results . ISSF . 12 December 2020.
3. The event was open to women in 1968 and 1972.
4. Web site: Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Men . Olympedia . 10 December 2020.
5. Official Report, p. 1058.