Chinese unknown shooter Jia Zhanbo came to fame overnight on Sunday after he won the Olympic men's 50m rifle three positions final that was full of drama.

The 30-year-old Jia, who had never won a single title in international competition, led the qualification round with 1,171 points but shot badly in the final, trailing American rival Matthew Emmons by three full points with just one shot remaining.

As Emmons looked set to grabbing his second gold in Athens, the 23-year-old, who had won the men's 50m rifle prone title on Friday, misfired at Austrian Christian Planer's target on the last shot and was thus awarded a zero point.

Jia, who shot 10.1 points on his last attempt, luckily bagged the gold with a total score of 1,264.5 points.

"His shot hit other shooter's target," Vassilis Delios, the chief range officer at the Markopoulo shooting center, told Xinhua.

There was initial confusion, with a puzzled Emmons checking his rifle, before the judges concluded he had fired at the target of the Austrian shooting in the lane to his right.

Derek Ivy, chairman of the Judges Committee of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), confirmed that Emmons shot the wrong target.

"The last shot fired by the shooter on target No. 2 (Emmons) was in fact a cross-shot which hit target No. 3 (Planer). Therefore he got a zero," said Ivy.

David Johnson, coach of the US shooting team, acknowledged the referee's ruling.

"It rarely happened in international competition," he said.

Emmons, who looked apparently sad at the result, refused to make any comments. He finally slumped to a distant eighth on 1, 257.4.

Emmons's teammate Michael Anti, who was handed a two-point penalty for firing an extra shot in the qualification round, took silver on 1,263.1. Planer had bronze on 1,262.8.

There were also speculations that Emmons may have helped Planer win bronze with his wayward shot -- a 10.6 points. But Ivy firmly denied the speculations, saying the result was absolutely correct.

"The shooter on target No. 3 (Planer) was credited with the score that he has obtained," he said.

"On back of the target there is a control sheet... The position of a shot is measured by the electronics. On the control sheet it 's immediately clear that the shot must come from this one or the other one.

"There is no doubt. Absolutely no doubt," added Ivy.

Jia, who remained an unfamiliar figure to his fellow countrymen until his dramatic victory, said the gold was a "surprise" to him.

"To be honest, I didn't expect to win the gold medal," Jia told reporters. "I just hoped to reach the last eight."

Jia could have secured the gold medal in qualification round when he led nearest rival Emmons by five points with five shots to go. But he scored a seven points on the last sixth shot and an eight point on the very last, giving the American a realistic chance of catching up in the final.

"If Jia had shot two nine points on those two shots instead, he would have an easier final," said Xu Haifeng, head coach of the Chinese shooting team.

"Anyhow, he won the gold medal. It's a miracle. Chinese miracle," he said.

Results of men's 50m rifle 3 positions final

1. Jia Zhanbo, China, 1,264.5 points

2. Michael Anti, United States, 1,263.1

3. Christian Planer, Austria, 1,262.8

4. Rajmond Debevec, Slovenia, 1,262.6

5. Artem Khadjibekov, Russia, 1,261.6

6. Thomas Farnik, Austria, 1,261.4

7. Artur Aivazian, Ukraine, 1,261.0

8. Matthew Emmons, United States, 1,257.4