Surprise Austrian victory

In the 300-metre standard rifle on Tuesday 16 September, Austria unexpectedly won the men’s team event. The team’s total score was no less than 1,750 points – a new military world record.  “This is quite a sensation –we didn’t think we’d have a chance against Norway,” said Thomas Farnik, second best in the Austrian team today with 584 points.

Austria, surprise gold medallists, left to right: Stefan Raser, Florian Kammerlander, Thomas Farnik and Michal Podolak. Photo: Mats Carlsson, PIC WMSC 2008

The strong favourites, Norway, finished second on 1,743 points. This result was also an improvement on the previous record, which Norway held. Switzerland grabbed third place, also achieving a high aggregate score, 1,738.

The victorious Austrian team comprised Michal Podolak, 588 points, Thomas Farnik 584, Florian Kammerlander 578 and Stefan Raser 572. Each team has four members, but only the three best scores are counted in the final team result.

The Swedish team came 12th in a starting field of 29.