The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the ninth appearance of the event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 15 October 1964, with 30 shooters from 18 nations competing. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Gary Anderson of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event since 1920 and second overall (tying Switzerland and the Soviet Union for most all-time). Both Americans made the podium, as Martin Gunnarsson took bronze. Shota Kveliashvili of the Soviet Union earned silver, extending the nation's podium streak to four Games.

Background

This was the ninth appearance of the men's 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.The event was open to women in 1968 and 1972. Three of the top 10 shooters from 1960 returned: gold medalist Hubert Hammerer of Austria, sixth-place finisher Vladimír Stibořík of Czechoslovakia, and ninth-place finisher Esa Kervinen of Finland. Gary Anderson of the United States was the reigning world champion and the favorite in this event. Auguste Hollenstein of Switzerland was the world record holder.

Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, and Thailand each made their debut in the event. Finland, Sweden, and the United States each made their eighth appearance, tied for most all-time.

Competition format

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.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 602

Records

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

Gary Anderson set a new world record with his 1153 to win. Shota Kveliashvili was also above the old Olympic record.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round Thursday, 15 October 1964 9:00 Final

Results

Rank Shooter Nation Score Notes Prone Kneeling Standing Total Gary Anderson 392 384 377 1153 Shota Kveliashvili 389 389 366 1144 Martin Gunnarsson 389 380 367 1136 4 Aleksandrs Gerasimjonoks 396 376 363 1135 5 August Hollenstein 382 381 372 1135 6 Esa Kervinen 392 383 358 1133 7 Kurt Müller 392 385 354 1131 8 Harry Köcher 392 378 360 1130 9 Hubert Hammerer 394 383 348 1125 10 Antti Rissanen 382 384 358 1124 11 John Sundberg 388 380 354 1122 12 Jan Poignant 390 377 348 1115 13 Magne Landrø 379 376 359 1114 14 Klaus Zähringer 384 363 363 1110 15 Henryk Górski 381 382 347 1110 16 Zoltán Sándor 391 358 357 1106 17 Thormod Næs 389 374 341 1104 18 Vladimír Stibořík 386 368 350 1104 19 Imre Simkó 379 380 340 1099 20 Shigemi Saito 390 362 344 1096 21 Nam Sang-wan 376 360 355 1091 22 Sin Hyeon-ju 377 366 343 1086 23 Wu Tao-yan 370 352 351 1073 24 Lkhamjavyn Dekhlee 371 356 343 1070 25 Leopoldo Ang 380 354 328 1062 26 Bernardo San Juan 371 357 332 1060 27 Reginald Dos Remedios 390 319 322 1031 28 Hajime Watanuki 359 344 325 1028 29 Turong Tousvasu 357 343 308 1008 30 Chan Pancharut 370 329 306 1005

References