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.

shooting event

Olympic shooters

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 2024)

Compared to 2020, the mixed team trap competition has been replaced with the mixed team skeet. Also, the total number of shooters competing has been reduced from 360 to 340.

Pistol class
10m air pistol (men, women and mixed)
25m rapid-fire pistol (men)
25m pistol (women)

Rifle class
10m air rifle (men, women and mixed)
50m rifle three positions (men and women)

Shotgun class
Trap (men and women)
Skeet (men, women and mixed)

Shooting at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Here are the medalists who won gold in shooting at the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Event Medal Name Country Results
10m Air Pistol Men Gold Yu XIE China 240.9
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Gold Zorana ARUNOVIC
Damir MIKEC		 Serbia -
10m Air Pistol women Gold Ye Jin OH Korea 243.2
10m Air Rifle Men Gold Lihao SHENG China 252.2
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Gold Yuting HUANG
Lihao SHENG		 China -
10m Air Rifle Women Gold Hyojin BAN Korea 251.8
25m Pistol Women Gold Jiin YANG Korea 37
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Gold Yuehong LI China 32
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men Gold Yukun LIU China 463.6
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women Gold Chiara LEONE Switzerland 464.4
Skeet Men Gold Vincent HANCOCK USA 58
Skeet Mixed Team Gold Diana BACOSI
Gabriele ROSSETTI		 Italy -
Skeet Women Gold Francisca CROVETTO CHADID Chile 55
Trap Men Gold Nathan HALES United Kingdom 48
Trap Women Gold Adriana RUANO OLIVA Guatemala 45

Preview of Shooting for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

The shooting event for LA 2028 at different indoor and outdoor locations in Los Angeles. Rifle and Pistol events will be held in a purpose-built, temporary indoor range at the Long Beach Target Shooting Hall. However, Shotgun events will be held outdoors at the Whittier Narrows Clay Shooting Center.

Here are the shooting events that will be featured at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics:

Men's Women's Mixed
10m Air Rifle 10m Air Rifle 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team
50m Rifle 3 Positions 50m Rifle 3 Positions 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team
10m Air Pistol 10m Air Pistol Trap Mixed Team
25m Rapid Fire Pistol 25m Pistol
Trap Trap
Skeet Skeet

Trivia

  • 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.