German marksman Schumann makes it three at Olympics

Germany's Ralf Schumann claimed his third Olympic gold medal on August 21 when he won the men's 25m rapid pistol event with a score of 694.7 points.

Russia's Sergei Poliakov took silver with 692.7, just 0.4 points ahead of fellow countryman Sergei Alifirenko.

Schumann, who had won Olympic gold at both the Barcelona and Altanta Games, was tied with the Russian duo at 592 in qualification round.

But the 42-year-old German, acclaimed as the most outstanding shooter of his generation, kept his nerve in the final and outshot his opponents to win his fourth Olympic medal and third gold.

"I'm very happy that I won the gold medal. My hard work has finally paid off," said Schumann, who was competing in his fifth Olympics.

"The psychological pressure was very high and the most important thing was that I managed to settle my nerves," he added.

China's Chen Yongqiang finished sixth with 683.8.

Also on Saturday, Finland's Marko Kemppainen and Valeri Shomin of Russia were the joint leader after the first day's qualifying round of the men's skeet event with 75 out of a possible 75 hits.

Besides the men's skeet, the men's 3x40 rifle event will be contested on Sunday, the last day of the Olympic shooting tournament that has 17 gold on offer.

Source: Xinhua