A sport that demands precision and focus, shooting has been a marquee discipline at the Olympic Games and is one of the original nine sports that featured at the very first edition of Athens 1896. The rifle, pistol and shotgun events make up the shooting programme at an Olympic Games. The sport is governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).
Shooting at Athens 1896 consisted of only five events, but the discipline has since grown in stature at the Olympic Games. Shooting didn’t feature at the St Louis 1904 and Amsterdam 1928 Olympics but has been at all other Summer Games. Separate events for women were added at Los Angeles 1984. At Tokyo 2020, there were 15 rifle, pistol and shotgun events for men and women.
This effort is to explore shooting at the Olympics. Although shooters are largely confined to one place during competition, the sport is nevertheless mentally and physically demanding. There is a lot of physical activity that is not seen from outside. Because the most natural aspect of the human body is movement.
Guns and Specifications
Olympic shooting features three types of guns – Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun. In rifle and pistol events, athletes shoot at stationary targets at indoor shooting ranges. Shotgun, however, is held outdoors where shooters have to aim at targets hurled in the air.
All shooting is done from a prescribed distance of 10m, 25m or 50m, with athletes aiming for a bulls-eye on a paper target or flying ‘clays’ in the shotgun.
The rifle is single-loaded in 5.6-millimetre caliber (the inner diameter of a gun barrel), which is used across all events. The pistol used in the 10m Air Pistol event is a single-loaded pistol in 4.5-millimetre caliber, whereas the ones used in the 25m events is a Rapid Fire Pistol in 5.6 caliber with a five-shot magazine.
The shotgun is a 12 gauge having a caliber of 18.5-millimetres. The gauge is a unit of measurement for firearms. In a shotgun, the gauge is determined by the number of equally-weighing spherical balls made from a pound of lead that can be fit inside the gun barrel.
Gear and Equipment
Special jackets or coats are used by shooters to assist them while performing by offering stability. The surface of these special jackets is non-slippery and thus ensures a better grip, especially for rifle shooters.
The extra-padding inside these jackets negates the effects of recoil, helping shooters improve their precision. The padding on the elbows provides a firm base, which is crucial for rifle shooters in the prone position.
Blinders are used to improve focus and block objects from distracting their vision. One front blinder of a prescribed width is allowed for shooters. However, only shotgun athletes are permitted to wear side blinders or blinkers.
Olympic Rifle Events
In rifle shooting, athletes fire at a target with 10 concentric circles at a fixed distance. The event is further divided into two subcategories – 50m Rifle 3 Positions and 10m Air Rifle.
50m Rifle 3 Positions: Athletes shoot at the target from three different positions – kneeling, prone and standing. Each participant fires 40 shots in each of the three aforementioned positions within a time frame of two hours and 45 minutes. The eight highest-scoring shooters move on to the medal round.
10m Air Rifle: Shooters fire 60 shots at the target within a time frame of one hour and 15 minutes, following which, the eight highest-scoring shooters battle it out for the medals.
In addition to the men’s and women’s categories, the 10m Air Rifle also features a mixed team event consisting of one male and one female athlete. Each team member fires 40 shots at the target within 50 minutes in the qualification round, after which five teams qualify for the final round.
Olympic Pistol Events
Pistol shooting features three subcategories – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, 25m Pistol and 10m Air Pistol. Here, athletes have to shoot with one hand only, unsupported.
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: This is a men’s only event where shooters have to fire shots successively over short periods of eight, six and four seconds. The qualification round features two rounds of 30 shots each. Eight shooters with the best score qualify for the medal round.
25m Pistol: This is a women’s-only event, and like the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, features two qualifying rounds of 30 shots each.
10m Air Pistol: The rules of this event are a replica of the 10m Air Rifle. It features a men’s, women’s and mixed team category. Shooters in the solo categories fire 60 shots within a time frame of one hour and 15 minutes before the top-eight move on to the medal round. In the mixed team event, each team member fires 40 shots and the five top-scoring teams slug it out for the overall honours.
Olympic Shotgun Events
Skeet and Trap are two shotgun events where athletes fire at an object, measuring just 10cm in diameter called ‘clay’ flying at over 100kph. While both events feature the men’s and women’s category, Trap also has a mixed team event.
Skeet: Both male and female athletes fire at clay targets from eight different spots, each known as a ‘station’. The clays fly in from two spots, one on the left and another on the right end of the shooting range. These spots are each called a ‘house’.
The left house is called the ‘high house’ and the clays flying in from it are known as ‘mark’. The house on the right is called ‘low house’ and the clays are called ‘pull’. Athletes take 25 shots each in five rounds over three days and the six best shooters move on to the medal round.
Trap: Shooters fire at clays thrown in front of them from five different positions. The preliminary round of the men’s and women’s event is similar to that of Skeet. In the Trap mixed team event featuring one male and female competitor, every shooter fires 75 shots in three rounds of 25 shots each. The top six teams then battle it out in the medal round.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Shooting competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were originally scheduled from July 25 to August 3, 2020, due to the postponement of the Summer Olympics to 2021, the rescheduled dates were on July 24 to August 2, 2021 at the Asaka Shooting Range. Unlike in 2016, the number of shooters competing across fifteen events at these Games had been reduced from 390 to 360, with an equal distribution between men and women. Furthermore, several significant changes were instituted in the Olympic shooting program, including the substitution of three male-only events (rifle prone, free pistol, and double trap), with the mixed team competitions.
On June 9, 2017, the ISSF welcomed the decision of the International Olympic Committee to approve the changes to the Olympic shooting program in achieving gender equality and to enhance the sport’s popularity and worldwide appeal. One of the significant changes in the program was to replace the three men-only events, namely 50 m rifle prone, 50 m pistol, and double trap, with the mixed team competitions (rifle, pistol, and trap), as a means of ensuring gender equality. Other ratified changes included the same number of shots for both men and women and the progressive elimination finals for both the women’s sport pistol and the shotgun events.
Similar to the 2016 format, all shooters who advanced to the Olympic finals of their individual events started from scratch and competed against each other in a series of elimination rounds. The stage continued until the competition choose two shooters to battle out in a duel to decide the gold and silver medals. In February 2018, the ISSF agreed to change the rules on the allocation of the Olympic quota places, to attain gender equality. As a result, a total of 360 quota places, an equal distribution between men and women, were awarded at the top-level global and continental championships.
After the qualification period and all NOCs received the official list of quota places, the ISSF checked the World Ranking in each of the individual shooting events. The highest-ranked shooter, who failed to qualify in any event and whose NOC failed to have a berth in a specific event, were awarded a direct Olympic quota place. Unlike the previous Games, host nation Japan was guaranteed 12 quota places, one in each of the individual shooting events.
Medal Summary
China – 4Gold medals (G), 1Silver medal (S) and 6 Bronze medals (B); United States – 3G, 2S, 1B; ROC – 2G, 4S, 2B; Czech Republic – 1G, 1S; Switzerland – 1G, 1B; France 1G; Iran – 1G; Slovakia – 1G; Spain – 1G; San Marino – 1S, 1B; Serbia – 1S, 1B; Bulgaria – 1S; Cuba – 1S; Denmark – 1S; Italy – 1S; South Korea -1S; South Korea – 1S; Great Britain – 1B; Kuwait – 1B; Ukraine – 1B.
Gold Medalists of 15 Events
Men’s events: 10 meter air pistol – Javad Foroughi (Iran); 25 meter rapid fire pistol – Jean Quiquampoix (France); 10 meter air rifle – Will Shaner (United States); 50 meter rifle three positions – Zhang Changhong (China); Skeet – Vincent Hancock (United States); Trap – Jiri Liptak (Czech Republic).
A Trap Shooter
Women’s events: 10 meter air pistol – Vitalina Batsarashkina (ROC); 25 meter pistol – Vitalina Batsarashkina (ROC); 10 meter air rifle – Yang Qian (China); 50 meter rifle three positions – Nina Christen (Switzerland); Skeet – Amber English (United States); Trap – Zuzana Rehák-Štefečeková (Slovakia).
Mixed events: 10 meter air pistol team – China (Jiang Ranxin and Pang Wei); 10 meter air rifle team – China(Yang Qian and Yang Haoran); Trap team – Spain (Alberto Fernandez and Fatima Galvez)
World and Olympic Records
During the Qualification and Final rounds of Tokyo 2020 a total of 21 new world or Olympic records were established- 7 in men’s events, 11 in women events and 3 in mixed events. Out of the total 21 records were 5 world records.
Olympics Paris 2024
Shooting competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are scheduled to take place from July 27 to August 5, 2024 at the National Shooting Center in Chateauroux. Unlike in the previous Olympics, the number of shooters competing across fifteen events at these Games has been reduced from 360 to 340, with an equal distribution between men and women. Furthermore, several significant changes are instituted in the Olympic shooting program, including the new final format and the substitution of the mixed team trap competitions with the mixed team skeet.
On June 9, 2017, the ISSF welcomed the decision of the International Olympic Committee to approve several changes to the Olympic shooting program to enhance the sport’s popularity and worldwide appeal. One of the significant changes in the program was to replace the mixed team trap competition with the mixed team skeet as a means of maintaining and attaining gender equality in sport shooting.
All shooters who advance to the Olympic finals of their individual events must start from scratch and hit a specific number of shots in the elimination stages. For the small-bore pistol and shotgun events, four finalists will compete in each of the two elimination relays with the winner and runner-up proceeding to the medal rounds. For the rifle and air pistol events, the eight finalists will compete against each other until the elimination round leaves with only two shooters battling out in a duel to decide the gold and silver medals.
In early 2022, the ISSF agreed to change the rules on the allocation of the Olympic quota places, as it aims to attain gender equality. As a result, a total of 340 quota places, with an equal distribution between men and women, will be awarded at the top-level global and continental championships.
As per the guidelines from the ISSF, the qualification period commenced with the 2022 European Championships for shotgun events in Larnaca, Cyprus and for small-bore rifle and pistol events in Wrocław, Poland, which concluded on September 18, 2022, less than two years before the Olympics. There, sixteen quota places will be assigned to the top two NOCs in each individual shooting event. For the remainder of the 2022 season, sixty more quota places will be awarded, including 48 from the separate rifle, pistol, and shotgun meets of the ISSF World Championships.
Throughout the process, quota places will be generally awarded when a shooter posts a top finish at the ISSF World Championships or the continental championships of Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.
After the qualification period concludes and all NOCs receive the official list of quota places, the ISSF will check the World Ranking list in each of the individual shooting events. The highest-ranked shooter, who has not qualified in any event and whose NOC does not have a berth in a specific event, will obtain a direct Olympic quota place.
Similar to the previous Games, host nation France is guaranteed twelve quota places, with one in each of the individual shooting events.
Amandhika Amarasinghe
Amandhika made her debut at the National Sports Shooting Federation’s Air Gun Championships in 2015. Ever since she has shown a steady progress in her shooting career in 10m Air Rifle event. She made her international debut in 2017 at the ISSF Junior World Championships in Germany. She blossomed into a top class shooter setting a new Sri Lanka record of 621.3 in 2019. She was also a member of the Sri Lanka Air Rifle Women team which bagged a bronze medal at the South Asian Games in Nepal in 2019.
At the ISSF World Cup in Egypt in January 2024, she shot a score of 622.5 which is the highest score by a Sri Lankan in Air Rifle among both men and women.22-year Amandhika is a medical student at the Eastern University.Initially she had been coached by DMPB Dassanayake and the teenager was spotted and groomed under the watchful eyes of the legendary shooter Zal Chitty during last six years.
Gavin Jayasekera
Gavin Jayasekera competed in his first Trap event at Fox Hill Sri Lanka in 1995 at 14-years and became junior champion. Then, he won the NSSF National Championships in 2012 before moving to Australia. His international debut started with Italian Green Cup Grand Prix in 2017. He has taken part at the ISSF World Cups in 2019, 2022 and 2023, Shooting World Championships in 2018 and 2019, Commonwealth Shooting Championships in 2018 and Asian Shooting Championships in 2019 and 2023.
His personal best score in a 125-target event was at the Australian Nationals with a score of 116/125 which allowed him to make the Victorian State team. His best achievement in a 200-target is 187/200 targets at the prestigious Roberto Scalzone Grand Prix and ending up with a top 6 finish out of 120 shooters.
