The sport of Shooting features three disciplines: Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun.
2012 Summer Olympic Shooting Events Key facts
Venue: The Royal Artillery Barracks
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Sunday 5 August
Events: There are 15 events in all: five in each of the three Shooting disciplines – Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun. In each of these disciplines three events are for men and two for women.
Gold medals: 15
Athletes: 390
Shooting: A history of the sport
Shooting developed as a hunting sport. The earliest shooting clubs recorded in central Europe in the 15th century. The rules and competition structure of modern shooting were developed in Europe and the USA, spreading worldwide in the late 19th century.
Today, top ‘marksmen’ and women come from a wide range of countries – every continent is represented at the Olympic Games.
Shooting at the Games
Shooting was one of the sports on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens 1896.
The worldwide development of the sport has seen it grow from three events at those Games to 15 today.
Women first took part in Shooting at Mexico City 1968. They used to compete alongside men, but separate men’s and women’s events have been held since 1996.
How to play – and win
Shooting is made up of Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun competitions.
In Pistol and Rifle events, competitors fire bullets at a target from a set distance.
They score points according to the accuracy of their shots. The targets consist of 10 rings, with a ‘bullseye’ at the centre that counts for 10.9 points in Olympic finals.
Pistol targets are either fixed at 50m and 10m, or turn to set time sequences at 25m.
In the Shotgun event, competitors fire lead pellets (‘shot’) at moving clay targets. These are launched from different directions, and in sequences originally designed to look like birds in flight.
Jargon buster
* Firing line: The line where competitors position themselves to shoot their targets.
* Clay shooting: The sport of shooting at clay targets thrown into the air by a trap machine.
* String: A series of shots – usually five or ten.
* Lost: A shotgun target that has not been hit.
* Three positions: Rifle events that require competitors to shoot in the prone, standing and kneeling positions at a distance of 50m.
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