Shooting at the 1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Olympic shooting competition was conducted at three separate sites. The short-distance rifle shooting was at the Umberto I Range, which was quite near the center of Rome. The trap shooting took place at the S.S. Lazio Shooting Stand, which was only 1 km. from the Olympic Village, and was set on a plateau that overlooked the Tiber River valley. The long-distance rifle events were held at the Cesano Range, at the Italian Infantry School, 32 km. from Rome. The program consisted of six events – similar to that of 1952 and 1956, but no running target event was held. The 1960 Olympic shooting competition is unique in Olympic history as it is the only time that true elimination contests advanced a large group of shooters to final rounds, in most of the events. Beginning in 1988, Olympic shooting has advanced a small group of the top shooters (usually eight) to a short final round. But in 1960, all the competitors had to participate in the preliminary round, and this only eliminated a relatively small group of shooters. In the final round, all the competitors again had to shoot an entire round for each event. The other innovation in 1960 was the use of an electronic target transport system that allowed the shooters to inspect their targets after shooting.