Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Dates 22 July – 3 August 1920
Medal Events 22

The shooting events in 1920 contained 21 events, the most in Olympic history. Most of them were contested at Beverloo Camp, which had stationed Belgian soldiers in World War I. Beverloo was 75 kilometres from Antwerp in the northeast corner of Belgium. A shooting range for training Belgian soldiers was there and was used for the Olympic competitions. The range was a rolling, barren ground with many hills and hollows in it. Pyramids were constructed for the shooters so they could see all the targets over the hills and this was where the shooters stood for the contests. There was no tree cover near the range and high winds kept scores quite low. During the matches, the Belgian Corps of Engineers was still busy detonating German grenades in parts of the heath that lay about four kilometres from the shooting stands.

The clay pigeon trapshooting and the running deer shooting events were held at Hoogboom Military Camp in Brasschaat. Brasschaat is a small town about 10 kilometres (6 miles) slightly northeast of Antwerp.

The Americans dominated this sport, winning 13 gold medals and 23 medals in all. In rifle and pistol events, individual and team medals were awarded. In most of them, the shooter could allow his team score to stand for the individual event as well, and most of the shooters did this.

Shooting is the only sport at the 1920 Olympics for which it has been impossible to find complete results. Myriad sources, including newspapers, magazines, sporting experts, national Olympic committees, and national shooting federations, have been researched with some success, but not complete. Still, the results seen below are the most complete ever published.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Military Pistol, Team, Men Olympic 3 August 1920 46 9
Free Pistol, 50 metres, Men Olympic 2 August 1920 33 9
Free Pistol, 50 metres, Team, Men Olympic 2 August 1920 65 13
Military Pistol, 30 metres, Men Olympic 3 August 1920 13 4
Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Men Olympic 31 July 1920 70 14
Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Team, Men Olympic 31 July 1920 70 14
Military Rifle, Prone, 300 metres, Men Olympic 29 – 30 July 1920 22 7
Military Rifle, Prone, 300 metres, Team, Men Olympic 29 July 1920 75 15
Military Rifle, Prone, 600 metres, Men Olympic 29 – 30 July 1920 18 6
Military Rifle, Prone, 600 metres, Team, Men Olympic 29 July – 2 August 1920 70 14
Military Rifle, Standing, 300 metres, Men Olympic 29 – 30 July 1920 16 7
Military Rifle, Standing, 300 metres, Team, Men Olympic 29 July 1920 75 15
Military Rifle, Prone, 300 and 600 metres, Team, Men Olympic 29 July 1920 70 14
Small-Bore Rifle, Standing, 50 metres, Men Olympic 2 August 1920 49 10
Small-Bore Rifle, Standing, 50 metres, Team, Men Olympic 2 August 1920 50 10
Running Target, Single Shot, Men Olympic 27 July 1920 12 4
Running Target, Single Shot, Team, Men Olympic 26 July 1920 20 4
Running Target, Double Shot, Men Olympic 27 July 1920 8 3
Running Target, Double Shot, Team, Men Olympic 26 July 1920 20 4
Trap, Men Olympic 23 – 24 July 1920 18 7
Trap, Team, Men Olympic 22 – 23 July 1920 49 8
Unknown Event, Men Olympic 3 2
238 (238/0) 18 (18/0)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Military Pistol, Team, Men United StatesUSA GreeceGRE SwitzerlandSUI
Free Pistol, 50 metres, Men Karl FrederickUSA Afrânio da CostaBRA Al LaneUSA
Free Pistol, 50 metres, Team, Men United StatesUSA SwedenSWE BrazilBRA
Military Pistol, 30 metres, Men Guilherme ParaenseBRA Ray BrackenUSA Fritz ZulaufSUI
Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Men Bud FisherUSA Niels LarsenDEN Østen ØstensenNOR
Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Team, Men United StatesUSA NorwayNOR SwitzerlandSUI
Military Rifle, Prone, 300 metres, Men Otto OlsenNOR Léon JohnsonFRA Fritz KuchenSUI
Military Rifle, Prone, 300 metres, Team, Men United StatesUSA FranceFRA FinlandFIN
Military Rifle, Prone, 600 metres, Men Hugo JohanssonSWE Mauritz ErikssonSWE Lloyd SpoonerUSA
Military Rifle, Prone, 600 metres, Team, Men United StatesUSA South AfricaRSA SwedenSWE
Military Rifle, Standing, 300 metres, Men Carl OsburnUSA Lars Jørgen MadsenDEN Larry NuessleinUSA
Military Rifle, Standing, 300 metres, Team, Men DenmarkDEN United StatesUSA SwedenSWE
Military Rifle, Prone, 300 and 600 metres, Team, Men United StatesUSA NorwayNOR SwitzerlandSUI
Small-Bore Rifle, Standing, 50 metres, Men Larry NuessleinUSA Arthur RothrockUSA Dennis FentonUSA
Smal-Bore Rifle, Standing, 50 metres, Team, Men United StatesUSA SwedenSWE NorwayNOR
Running Target, Single Shot, Men Otto OlsenNOR Alf SwahnSWE Harald NatvigNOR
Running Target, Single Shot, Team, Men NorwayNOR FinlandFIN United StatesUSA
Running Target, Double Shot, Men Ole Lilloe-OlsenNOR Fredric LandeliusSWE Einar LibergNOR
Running Target, Double Shot, Team, Men NorwayNOR SwedenSWE FinlandFIN
Trap, Men Mark ArieUSA Frank TroehUSA Frank WrightUSA
Trap, Team, Men United StatesUSA BelgiumBEL SwedenSWE

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 13 4 6 23
Norway NOR 5 2 4 11
Sweden SWE 1 6 3 10
Denmark DEN 1 2 0 3
Brazil BRA 1 1 1 3
France FRA 0 2 0 2
Finland FIN 0 1 2 3
Belgium BEL 0 1 0 1
Greece GRE 0 1 0 1
South Africa RSA 0 1 0 1
Switzerland SUI 0 0 5 5