In the qualifier, each shooter fired 60 shots with a .22 Long Rifle at 50 metres distance from the prone position.

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.