Shooting

Competitive shooting began in the late 18th Century when pistols replaced swords for duelling. Target shooting developed only after technical advances made weapons more accurate. Men's shooting was one of the nine sports on the program of the first Olympic Games of modern times in Athens in 1896. In the 1900 Games in Paris, live pigeons were used as moving targets; this was eventually deemed unethical, so after 1900, the live pigeons were replaced with clay pigeons. Shooting was on the premier Pan American Games program in 1951.

Shooting events are distinguished by the type of firearm or airgun, the type of target, whether moving or stationary, and the distance of the shooter from the target. A score from one to 10 is awarded for each shot, depending on its accuracy. In the final events, partial points can be awarded for shots that are close to the target.

In the rifle discipline, both "free rifle" and "3-position rifle" use a .22 calibre rifle. The "air rifle" and "air rifle running target" use a .177 calibre air rifle. Each features its own rules with athletes at a prone position, kneeling position and/or a standing position. Pistol events include the "free," "rapid fire," "air" and "sport" pistol. Like rifle, there are certain time limits involved and number of shots to fire.

The third discipline is shotgun. Here the target is a spinning clay saucer catapulted into the air. In "skeet" athletes can take only one shot at the target. In "trap" two shots can be fired and in "double trap" two targets are tossed at once.

Athletes

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  • kcs

    kcs - 2 weeks, 1 day ago

    Hey guys!!! This is Tyson and Euni from Kelowna Christian School.
    We just want to cheer up u guys for the olympics!
    Good luck and we hope you win gold medal.
    Sincerely, Euni and Tyson.

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