How does the 50 m rifle three positions final work?

• Warm-up: five minutes of preparation and sighting in the kneeling position.
• Kneeling and prone: one period of 22 minutes. Finalists fire 10 match shots kneeling, change to prone, fire as many sighting shots as they like and then 10 match shots.
• Getting ready to stand: in whatever is left of the 22 minutes, finalists change to the standing position and may fire unlimited sighting shots.
• Time calls: "FIVE MINUTES" after 17 minutes and "THIRTY SECONDS" after 21 minutes 30 seconds.
• Standing series: two series of five shots on command, 250 seconds each.
• First cut: the two lowest go out after the second standing series, in 8th and 7th places.
• Single shots: 50 seconds each, on command, with the lowest athlete out after every shot:
  • after 31 shots, 6th place;
  • after 32 shots, 5th place;
  • after 33 shots, 4th place;
  • after 34 shots, 3rd place, the bronze medal;
  • after 35 shots, silver and gold.
• Targets: finalists switch their own targets between match and sighting.
• Clothing: athletes may not change clothing or take off jackets or trousers on the field of play. Zips and buttons may be undone.
• Doing it alone: athletes adjust their own rifles and move their own equipment. A two-point penalty may be applied if an athlete needs help.
• Coaches: may help with taking off the prone sling and small adjustments of clothing, and may speak to the athlete while doing so, only in the coach's area at the back.

Putting kneeling and prone into one timed block keeps the final short enough for an audience and makes the changes between positions part of the contest. The final ends standing because that is the least steady position, so the scores move most when the medals are being decided.