1 month ago
52
Shooting was part of the original nine sporting disciplines at the 1896 Olympics. Barring the St Louis Olympics in 1904 and the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928, shooting has featured in all the other editions of the Olympics. read more
 "Shooting - history, rules, defending champions")
USA's Vincent Hancock is the defending champion of the men's Skeet event at the Olympics. Reuters
Shooting is one of the most popular sports in Europe. Shooting has remained as a notable sport at the Olympics right from the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, Greece. Having said that, some German shooting clubs were founded even more than 500 years ago. Over time, shooting became more popular in English-speaking nations, and that coincided with the founding of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in 1871.
At the modern Olympics, athletes from more than 100 countries take part in shooting competitions.
What is shooting’s history at the Olympics?
Shooting was part of the original nine sporting disciplines at the 1896 Olympics. Barring the St Louis Olympics in 1904 and the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928, shooting has featured in all the other editions of the Olympics. Back in 1896, there were just five events in shooting at the Olympics, but now, that number has increased to 15.
The United States of America are the most successful team in shooting at the Olympics. USA have won 116 medals in shooting, which includes 57 gold medals.
What are the rules?
Three disciplines of shooting are part of the modern Olympics. These are —Rifle, pistol and shotgun. Let’s now take a quick look into each of these categories:
Rifle shooting
Rifle shooting consists of two sub-categories— The 50m Rifle 3 Positions and 10m Air Rifle. In 50m Rifle 3 Positions, athletes are required to shoot at the desired target from three sperate positions —kneeling, prone and standing. Each athlete must fire 40 shots in each of these positions, and have a time limit of two hours and 45 minutes. The shooters that finish in the top eight of the standings qualify for the medal round.
In 10m Air Rifle event, shooters have a time limit of one hour and 15 minutes wherein they have to fire 60 shots. The top eight shooters qualify for the medal rounds.
Apart from the men’s and women’s categories, there is also a mixed team Air Rifle event in shooting. The team has one male and one female, with each team member firing 40 shots within 50 minutes. The top five teams advance to the final round.
Pistol shooting
There are three subcategories in pistol shooting. These are the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, 25m Pistol and the 10m Air Pistol. Athletes are only allowed to shoot with one hand.
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Only the men take part in this event. Shooters are needed to fire successive shots over four, six and eight seconds. Two rounds of 30 shots make up the qualification round, with the top eight shooters advancing to the medal round.
25m Pistol: This is the women’s equivalent of the pistol shooting event and follows the same format and rules of the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event.
10m Air Pistol: The rules of 10m Air Pistol event are similar to that of 10m Air Rifle. There are the men’s, women’s and mixed team category events. Shooters in individual events are given a time of one hour and 15 minutes where they have to fire 60 shots. The top eight advance to the medal rounds. In mixed team, each of the team members need to fire 40 shots, with top five teams advancing to the medal round.
Shotgun shooting
There are two categories of shotgun shooting. These are Skeet and Trap. Unlike rifle and pistol shooting, both shotgun events take place outdoors.
Skeet: In Skeet shooting, athletes fire at clay targets from eight different “stations”, which are their designated spots of shooting. The clays that fly in from two spots, one on the right and the other on the right end of the shooting range, is called a ‘house’. The left house is defined as a ‘high house’ and the clays that fly in from the left house are called as a ‘mark’. The ‘low house’ refers to the house on the right, with the clays being defined as ‘pull’.
Five rounds are held over three days, and athletes are needed to take 25 shots each. The top six athletes qualify for the medal round.
Trap: In trap shooting, shooters fire at clays that come n from five different positions. In the mixed team event of trap, a male and a female shooter takes part. Each shooter needs to fire 75 shots, that are divided into 25 shots of three rounds. The top six teams progress into the medal round.
Who are the defending champions?
Men’s shooting
10m Air Rifle: Javed Foroughi (Iran)
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Jean Quiquampoix (France)
10m Air Rifle: Will Shaner (USA)
Skeet: Vincent Hancock (USA)
Trap: Jiri Liptak (Czech Republic)
Women’s shooting
10m Air Pistol: Vitalina Batsarashkina (Russian Olympic Committee)
25m Pistol: Vitalina Batsarashkina (Russian Olympic Committee)
10m Air Rifle: Yang Qian (China)
50m Rifle 3 Positions: Nina Christen (Switzerland)
Skeet: Amber English (USA)
Trap: Zuzana Rehák-Štefečeková (Slovakia)
Mixed shooting events
10m Air Pistol team: China
10m Air Rifle team: China
Trap team: Spain
How many athletes will compete in shooting at Paris Olympics?
A total of 342 athletes from 82 countries will take part in shooting at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
When and where will the shooting events at the 2024 Paris Olympics take place?
The shooting events of the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place between 27 July and 5 August at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
English (US) ·