LONDON: The wait for a three position gold medal goes on for American rifle shooter Matthew Emmons, but the man famed for losing the Olympic title after hitting the wrong target in Athens is getting closer.
Emmons collected a bronze on Monday in the 50 metre three position rifle on Monday to finally have something to show for his efforts in the discipline he has proved highly proficient in over the last three Games.
In second place before the final round at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Emmons produced a worst of the day 7.6 as he slipped from second to third behind winner and friend Niccolo Campriani of Italy.
While many would be disappointed not to have shot closer to the 10.9 maximum to have perhaps secured the silver, Emmons, who overcame a bout of thyroid cancer two years ago, was simply relieved after previous dramas.
At the 2008 Beijing Games he shot a final 4.4 when leading to miss out on a medal. That followed his 2004 Athens Games meltdown where he closed out by hitting a target in the adjoining lane when set to clinch gold.
"I can't run away from it, that is what everyone talks about so it is tough and really today I was just really, really nervous and honestly, to just get the shot off cleanly, on the target I was really happy," Emmons told reporters.
"Today was one of the hardest matches I have ever shot. I had the weight of millions of people on my back, hoping that I would win and also riding on that last shot. My knees were really shaking before I picked that gun up."
Emmons, won gold at the 2004 Games in the 50m prone, had no chance of blowing such an advantage in London as Campriani took an eight point lead in to the final and kept a steady arm to seal gold.
However, the battle for second proved as intense as any gold medal shootoff.
Ahead of South Korean Kim Jong-hyun before the final shot in the race for silver, Emmons brought gasps from the crowd as he fired his disappointing score to leave the crowd desperately trying to work out if he had blown it yet again.
"When I shot it I just said 'all you can do is do your very best and just see where you end up' and when I shot it I knew it was low and to the right, but it was on the target and it was good enough.
"For me, any medal is good."
Having received a huge cheer after collecting his medal at the indoor range, Emmons suffered another gaffe when the bronze fell to the floor as he went to toss his bouquet of flowers to the crowd.
While most would think they were cursed having experienced so many Olympic disappointments, Emmons continues to look at the positive that the Games have given him.
After his Athens Games blunder he was consoled by a shooter from the Czech Republic called Katerina Kurkova, who he later married.
She was on hand to congratulate him after he won his bronze.
"People have been doubting him the past four years," she said.
"I admire him so much that he could overcome it and actually hit the target because I don't think I would be able to myself."
"He had some people reminding him, some of them making fun of Matt which was not nice. He had to overcome that and it was hard.
"It made him sad that people remembered him more as a failure than as a success. Don't forget he has two Olympic medals already and made four finals.
"He is looking at 10 (in the final round) for Rio, the monkey is off his back."
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