Fact of the day


Because of World War I and World War II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944.
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Olympic Sports

 

 

 

 

SHOOTING

 

History

 

Shooting would have been an Olympic ever-present but for the decision to exclude the sport in 1928 at Amsterdam.

 

The Dutch may have been put off by the curious events that had taken place in previous Games.

 

In Paris in 1900, Leon de Lunden, from Belgium, had won an Olympic title by shooting live pigeons.

 

Eight years later, in London, there was a running deer competition, but the deer were cardboard cut-outs.

 

Oscar Swahn, from Sweden, won the deer shooting in London when he was 60, a team gold four years later and a bronze in Antwerp in 1920, when he was 72.

 

Hungarian Karoly Takacs was one of the most extraordinary Olympic champions.

 

Takacs, a soldier, lost his right hand in a grenade accident.

 

He recovered and subsequently won two Olympic titles, shooting with his left hand.

 

In 1968, Preston vet Bob Braithwaite, in the trap, was Britain’s first Olympic shooting champion since 1924.

 

Malcolm Cooper, known as Cooperman, went one better than Braithwaite, winning successive titles in the three-position event in 1984 and 1988.

 

Richard Faulds is Britain’s most recent champion, winning the double trap in Sydney.

 

Technical


There are 15 Olympic shooting titles; nine for men and six for women.

 

Rifle and pistol shooting provide the majority of the events; six for men, four for women. Competitors shoot at a target 10m, 25m or 50m away.

 

The top eight shoot off (top six in the running target and rapid fire) in the final round.

 

The remaining five events are shotgun; three for men and two for women.

 

They are known as clay-pigeon events, because competitors fire at clay discs launched from a 'trap’. In clay-pigeon shooting, the top six go forward to the final round.

 

The Major Players


Germany’s Ralf Schumann is a one-man institution in the rapid-fire event, being the only person to have won three shooting titles in an individual event. China’s Wang Yifu, in the 10m air pistol, is also compiling an impressive record, finishing 1st, 2nd, 2nd and 1st in his four Olympics.

 

Beginners’ Guide
No bird: a clay that does not count, either because it is broken when it is released or it has been released before the shooter’s call.

 

Useless Information


The Russians turned up 13 days late for the 1908 Olympics. They were still using the Julian calendar; the rest of the world was using the Gregorian one.

 

Saturday 04 February 2012
Spotlight / Round-up


spotlightBritain's athletes may be golden, shame about the finances

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