Shooting: Then and now

Shooting as a sport developed as a hunting sport and 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.

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.

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.

Facts about Shooting

• Hungarian shooter Karoly Takac, who won gold at Berlin 1936, taught himself to shoot left-handed after a grenade blew off his right arm in 1938. Ten years later, he won two gold medals at the London 1948 Games.
• At Barcelona 1992, China’s Zhang Shan became the first woman to win Gold in a mixed-sex shooting event. After these Games, the International Shooting Union stopped men and women competing against each other.
• Shooting had more athletes than any other sport at the Athens 1896 Olympic Games.
• Between 1896 and 2004, British athletes won 88 Olympic medals in Shooting.
• Olympic Shooting has only been shown on television since the Barcelona 1992 Games that saw the introduction of electronic scoring targets in the the Pistol and Rifle disciplines, providing instant results. In the Shotgun events orange ‘flash’ powder targets are used to indicate ‘hits’ , making the competition easy to follow for a TV audience.
• Running Target or ‘Deer’ events were held from 1908 until 2000. This discipline replicated deer hunting at a crossing target at ranges of 100m in 1908 to 10m in 2000.

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.

Get involved

Shooting is a fun way to learn discipline and responsibility. In the UK, more than 350,000 people currently practice the sport, with equal numbers of boys and girls entering competitions.
 
If you want to get involved, British Shooting is a good place to start.

As with many sports, there are schemes to encourage young people to reach a high level.

You will also find details of all the Shooting clubs and facilities in your local area. See 'related websites'.