The event consisted of two rounds: a qualifier and a final. In the qualifier, each shooter fired 60 shots with a .22 Long Rifle at 50 metres distance from the prone position. Scores for each shot were in increments of 1, with a maximum score of 10.
The top 8 shooters in the qualifying round moved on to the final round. There, they fired an additional 10 shots. These shots scored in increments of .1, with a maximum score of 10.9. The total score from all 70 shots was used to determine final ranking.
23-year-old U.S. shooter Matthew Emmons maintained a single-point lead from the rest of the field in the qualifying round to finish with 703.3 for the rifle prone gold and his first Olympic medal.[2] Germany's Christian Lusch, who had gradually come close on Emmons in an attempt to steal his lead with only two rounds left, ended up taking the silver at 702.2.[2][3] Meanwhile, Belarus' Sergei Martynov, who had the highest score in the final, shot 105.6 to vault himself from fifth at the start to a bronze-medal position with a total of 701.6, repeating his feat from Sydney 2000.[4]
Sweden's Jonas Edman missed his Olympic title defense after finishing in a distant thirty-second from the prelims with 590 points, while 2000 silver medalist Torben Grimmel also fell short of the finale by just a single point from the cutoff score of 595, relegating to a ninth-place draw with six other shooters.[3]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
