How the sport of shooting works at the Olympics: What to know

Here's what you need to know about shooting at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

When did shooting become an Olympic sport?

Shooting was one of the nine sports included in the Athens Games in 1896 and has been part of every subsequent Olympics except for 1904 and 1928. The number of events has evolved over the years with women debuting in 1968. The medal competitions from that point were mixed gender until 1984 when women’s events were introduced.

How does Olympic shooting work?

The events are broken into three disciplines: Rifle, pistol and shotgun. There are five medals awarded within each discipline: Two each for men and women and a mixed team event.

The rifle category is broken into two competitions. The 50-meter requires shooters to fire 40 shots at a 10-ring bullseye from three positions: Kneeling, prone and standing. The 10-meter air rifle is scored similarly, but with 60 shots from a standing position.

In pistol, both men and women have a 10-meter air pistol category, which requires 60 shots within 75 minutes. The men have a 25-meter rapid fire pistol competition, which requires five shots in quick succession. The women have a 25-meter pistol event, but it is not timed the same way. All shots in the pistol discipline are fired from a standing position.

Both the pistol and rifle events are held in an indoor shooting range, while the shotgun events — trap and skeet — are held outdoors with athletes shooting at moving clay targets. In skeet, the athletes shoot from eight different positions or “stations,” trying to hit targets thrown from two machines releasing at various heights and directions. Trap shooting primarily differs in that it uses only five stations, and the clay targets are released moving away from the shooter with a machine that releases from ground level.

In all events, cumulative scores from preliminary rounds determine the finalists.

Who are the top Team USA athletes in shooting?

The 16-person American team has several Olympic veterans led by 35-year-old Vincent Hancock, who is aiming for his fourth consecutive gold medal in skeet. Derrick Mein, who qualified for the Tokyo Games, won the 2022 world championship gold medal in trap. Austen Smith, who has already won four world championship gold medals in team skeet, was the youngest member of the team in Tokyo but is now entering her prime at age 22. Mary Tucker, who will turn 23 just before the Paris Games, won silver in Tokyo on the 10-meter air rifle team and will compete in multiple events.

What’s the international landscape in Olympic shooting?

Team USA has by far the most all-time medals won with 57 golds and 116 overall — nearly twice as many as China. However, as the event has grown to roughly 400 shooters, the medals have been distributed more evenly. In Tokyo, nine different countries won a gold with China taking four and the Americans coming in with three. In 2020, San Marino took home a silver and bronze, becoming the smallest country to win any Olympic medal.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How the sport of shooting works at the Olympics: What to know