(Reuters) – The 2020 Tokyo Olympics includes 33 sports. Shooting is one of the original sports included in the first modern Games.
Here are some key facts about shooting at the Olympics.
Introduced: Shooting was one of nine sports on the program at the 1896 Games, the first modern Olympics.
Women’s shooting was first included in the 1984 Games.
Events: Competition is broken down into rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines. In the rifle and pistol competitions, athletes shoot stationary targets, while moving targets are used in shotgun events.
There are six men’s and six women’s events, plus three mixed-gender team events, each featuring a qualification round and a final round.
Scoring and rules: Each of the disciplines comes with its own set of demands. In air rifle, competitors fire 60 shots from a standing position towards a still target in the qualifying round and as many as 24 shots in the final.
In the 50-metre rifle 3, however, shooters must assume three separate positions: prone, standing and kneeling.
In trap and skeet shooting, competitors take aim at a total of 125 clays over the course of five rounds.
Shooters are judged by their accuracy, with a steady hand and cool demeanor under extreme pressure both prized qualities.
Top competitors: The United States leads the medal count in shooting by a significant margin, having taken home 110. Despite that strong history, however, the U.S. men were shut out at the 2016 Rio Games, failing to make the podium in any discipline. American women won gold and two bronze in Brazil.
At the Rio Games, Xuan Vinh Hoang won Vietnam’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in any sport after beating the competition in the men’s 10-metre air pistol.
Sources: International Olympic Committee, Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, ISSF
(Graphics: Shooting – https://graphics.reuters.com/OLYMPICS-2020-SHOOTING/0100B5FH3P7/SHOOTING…)
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Ken Ferris)
