Shooting at the Olympics
Shooting has long been a part of the Olympic Games program, though the actual shooting events on the program have changed over the years. Only twice has shooting not been on the Olympic program, in 1904 and 1928. Women's shooting events were first included in the Olympics in 1984.
In the interests of gender equality, three men's Olympic shooting events (rifle prone, free pistol, and double trap) are set to be replaced by mixed team competitions for Tokyo 2020, and for the first time there will be an equal distribution of competitors between men and women.
Current Olympic Shooting Events (for 2020)
Pistol class
10m air pistol
(men and women)
25m rapid-fire pistol
(men)
25m pistol
(women)
air pistol
team (mixed)
Rifle class
10m air rifle
(men and women)
air rifle team
(mixed)
50m rifle three positions
(men and women)
Shotgun class
Trap
(men and women)
Trap team (mixed)
Skeet
(men and women)
Olympic shootersTrivia
- Pigeon shooting was a sport in 1900. Fortunately this shooting event was short lived. It was the only time animals were killed on purpose during an Olympic event [more]
- A dueling pistol event was held at the 1906 the Intercalated Games, which required competitors to shoot at human silhouettes dressed in frock coats, with a bull's eye on the dummy's chest.
- At the same time as the 1908 Olympic Games, there was a demonstration of a new sport of dueling pistols, in which two heavily protected competitors faced off and shot wax bullets at each other.
- Women's shooting events were first included in the Olympics in 1984. There were three events, three position rifle, air rifle and sport pistol.
- The first brothers to win Olympic gold medals were Americans John and Sumner Paine - they came first in the military pistol and free pistol shooting events respectively in 1896.
- Right-handed Hungarian Károly Takács, a member of the Hungary pistol-shooting team, had his shooting hand shattered by a grenade in 1938. After this setback he taught himself to shoot with his left, and 10 years later won the gold in the rapid-fire pistol event at the 1948 London Games.
- Oscar Swahn of Sweden won a gold medal for shooting at the 1912 Olympics, when he was 65 years old, and took a silver medal eight years later in 1920 when he was 72 years, 281 days old. He is the oldest ever Olympian. He also qualified for the 1924 Olympics but withdrew without competing.
- Shooter Jasna Šekarić is one of only two athletes to compete under four different flags at the Olympics. First she competed for Yugoslavia at Seoul in 1988 (gold medal in the 10 meter air rifle). She competed under the Olympic flag at Barcelona 1992. At Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 she represented Serbia and Montenegro, then in 2008 and 2012 she competed for Serbia following Montenegro's independence.
- American skeet shooter Kim Rhode won six medals in six consecutive Olympic Games, including 3 golds, between 1996 to 2016.
- The best all-time performing shooter at the Olympic Games is Carl Osburn from the USA. He won 11 medals between 1912–1924. See more on the Greatest shooters at the Olympics.
Related Pages
- More about the sport of Shooting
- discontinued shooting events at the Olympics
- demonstration shooting events at the Olympics
- Shooting at the Paralympics
- List of Olympic Sports
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