Ralf Schumann of Germany shot into Olympic history yesterday when he became the first man to win three gold medals in the 25-meter rapid-fire pistol event.
The world No. 1, winner of gold medals in the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Games, triumphed over both the opposition and his nerves to secure victory at the Markopuolo Olympic Shooting Center.
Softly-spoken Schumann, 42, who lists ‘shooter’ as his occupation and building model airplanes as his first hobby, also took a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Games, but finished fifth in Sydney in 2000. He said he was delighted to win gold for a third time, but added that “the other medals mean just as much to me as this one does.” He was prevented from taking part in the 1984 Los Angeles Games because he was competing for East Germany, which boycotted the event.
Schumann holds the Olympic record for the event also, with his near-perfect total of 698 points scored in 1996, but this was safe from his best efforts yesterday when he emerged victorious with a total of 694.9 points. He began the final on level scores with his two main Russian rivals, an edgy situation that required steely nerves in the hall during the final.
The top three were all level on 592, but Schumann emerged victorious, adding 102.9 to his qualification total. Bells rang among his cheering fans when he received his medal.
This was enough to put him ahead of Russian Sergei Poliakov, the 2003 European champion, but appearing in his first Olympic final. He took the silver medal with 692.7.
Defending Olympic champion Sergei Alifirenko, 45, finished third to take bronze with 692.3 points. Schumann has been shooting since he was 14, when he was advised at school that he was too small to take up rifle-shooting and instead, by chance, began with an air pistol. For the last 18 months, he has been state-supported by a German ‘sport aid’ system, but when this support ends after the Games he is expected to return to his original job as a precision mechanic in a woodmill.
