Shooting

Sport shooting originated as a means of survival, as shooting was practiced to hunt game for food. In the 19th century, as the industrial revolution occurred and hunting for food became less necessary for more people, sport shooting evolved. The sport was first popular in English-speaking countries, notably England and the United States, but also in Ireland and South Africa.

The world governing body is the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), formerly the L’Union Internationale des Fédérations et Associations nationals de Tir and the L’Union Internationale de Tir (UIT), which was formed on 17 July 1907 in Zürich, with seven founding members: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands. As of 2020 the ISSF has 150 member nations.

Shooting has been contested at most of the Olympic Games. Baron Pierre de Coubertin was an avid pistol shot so he saw to it that the sport was included on the program in 1896. There were also events in 1900, but none were contested in 1904 at St. Louis. In 1928 at Amsterdam, shooting events were also not on the program. This was due to the fact, that usually prize money was awarded at shooting competitions, which was against the Olympic Charter, which allows only amateurs to participate.

The program has varied more than any other sport (with the possible exception of sailing/yachting). In 1908-24, there were dozens of events, including numerous team events, and it was possible for shooters to win several medals at each Olympics. After the sport’s hiatus in 1928, it returned to the Olympics in 1932 with only two events – one for pistols and one for rifles.

Women were first allowed to compete in Olympic shooting in 1968, when all events became open to both genders, and in that year, Mexico, Peru, and Poland each entered one female contestant. In 1976, Margaret Murdock (USA) won a silver medal in the small-bore rifle (three positions) event. In 1984, the UIT introduced separate events for women. Since 1984, the women’s shooting program has been expanded at each Olympics, and the number of open events decreased. Beginning in 2000 at Sydney, men and women competed in fully separate shooting programs, with 10 events for men and 7 for women. At Tokyo in 2021, the program will be equalized with six events for men, six for women, and three mixed team events. Men and women will have two events in the three main types of shooting, pistol, rifle, and shotgun, while the mixed teams will have one event for each type.

The top medal winners in this sport all date from the period 1896-1924, when there were team events. Six marksmen have won five gold medals. Carl Osburn stands out among them as having won the most total medals (11), while Willis Lee uniquely won all his five golds at the same Games, in 1920.