Basics
Rifle events
In the qualification rounds, competitors shoot at a 10-ring target. The eight highest scores advance to the finals -- each rifle event has separate, specific rules regarding how many shots are to be taken. In the finals, the 10 rings are sub-divided into 10 score zones (10.0-10.9, with 10.9 being the highest point total).
| Men's Events | Women's Events | Mixed Team |
|---|---|---|
| 10m air rifle | 10m air rifle | 10m air rifle |
| 50m rifle 3-positions | 50m rifle 3-positions |
Pistol events
Scored the same way as rifle events, pistol events have two separate types of targets being used. The precision events (e.g. air and sport pistol) use a 10-ring system similar to the rifle events. The rapid fire event (men only) uses a larger 10-ring target, but only the five highest-scoring rings are used. Pistol shooters are to be standing and must use just one hand, unsupported, while competing. Eight competitors advance to every pistol final except the men's 25m rapid fire pistol, which has just six finalists.
| Men's Events | Women's Events | Mixed Team |
|---|---|---|
| 10m air pistol | 10m air pistol | 10m air pistol |
| 25m rapid fire pistol | 25m sport pistol |
Shotgun events
In the shotgun events, the shooters stand at designated stations and fire at clay targets that are released on or after the shooter's command. A referee must see one visible piece fall from the target for it to be a hit and to award a point to the shooter.
| Men's Events | Women's Events | Mixed Team |
|---|---|---|
| Trap | Trap | Trap |
| Skeet | Skeet |
Qualifying for medal round
Each discipline has its own set of qualification rules, but each discipline has a qualification round. The qualification round features every athlete. In rifle and pistol competitions, the top eight competitors from the qualification round advance to a much shorter 10-shot final (in rapid fire pistol, there are only be six finalists). Shotgun is similar, save for the fact only six advance from the qualifying round to a 25-target final (50 in double trap).
Qualification Round
Men's events
Rifle
- 10m air rifle: 60 shots
- 50m rifle 3-positions: 120 shots
Pistol
- 10m air pistol: 60 shots
- 25m rapid fire pistol: 60 shots
Shotgun
- Trap: 1st Day- three rounds of 25 targets, 2nd Day- two rounds of 25 targets
- Skeet: 1st Day three rounds of 25 targets, 2nd Day- two rounds of 25 targets
Women's events
Rifle
- 10m air rifle: 40 shots
- 50m rifle 3-positions: 60 shots
Pistol
- 10m air pistol: 40 shots
- 25m pistol: 60 shots
Shotgun
- Trap: three rounds of 25 targets
- Skeet: three rounds of 25 targets
Final Round
Men's 10m air rifle, 10m air pistol; Women's 10m air rifle, 10m air pistol
- Two series of three shots each fired in 150 seconds per series (100 seconds for 50m rifle prone)
- 14 singles shots, each fired in 50 seconds (30 seconds for 50m rifle prone)
- Total of 20 shots
- The lowest ranking finalist is eliminated after eight shots and then after every two shots until the gold and silver medals are decided
Men's 50m rifle 3-positions; Women's 50m rifle 3-positions
- 15 shots in each position- kneeling, prone and standing
- 3 x 5 shots kneeling with a time limit of 200 seconds per series
- 3 x 5 shots prone with a time limit of 150 seconds per series
- 2 x 5 shots standing with a time limit of 250 seconds per series
- The two lowest ranking finalists are eliminated after 10 (2 x 5) shots standing
- The finals continue with five single shots standing, each in 50 seconds, with the lowest ranking athlete being eliminated after each shot until two athletes remain to fire the last shot and decide the gold medal winner
- Total of 45 shots
Men's 25m rapid fire pistol
- Eight series of five shots
- Four seconds per series
- The elimination of the lowest scoring finalists begins after the fourth series and continues until the eighth series when the gold and silver medals are decided
- Scoring in the finals is hit or miss
- Each hit counts one point
- Each miss counts zero points
- The size of the hit zone is within the 9.7 zone
Women's 25m pistol
- Two stages- semifinal and two medal matches
- Semifinal- five shot rapid-fire series
- Medal matches- the first and second place athletes from the semifinal compete for gold and silver medals, while the third and fourth place athletes compete for the bronze medal
- Each medal match is fired on a series-by-series basis, where the athlete with the highest hit total in each series receives two points. A tie scores one point each.
- All scoring is hit or miss
- The size of the hit zone is within the 10.2 zone
Men's trap, skeet; Women's trap, skeet
- Two stages: semifinals and two medal matches
- The first and second place athletes advance to the Gold Medal Match, while the third and fourth place athletes advance to the Bronze Medal Match
- Trap
- Each semifinal and medal match stage consists of 15 targets
- Skeet
- Each semifinal and medal match stage consists of eight doubles
Rifle and Pistol Tiebreaking
Tiebreakers in the rifle and pistol events are as follows:
- The highest number of inners tens.
- The highest score of the last 10-shot series working backward by 10-shot series in full ring scoring (not inner tens or decimals) until tie is broken.
- If any tie remains, scores are compared on a shot-by-shot basis using inners tens (an inner ten outranks a 10 that is not an inner ten) beginning with the last shot, then the next to the last shot and so on.
- If any tie remains, scores are compared on a shot-by-shot basis using decimal ring scores beginning with the last shot, then the next to last shot and so on.
- When decimal scoring is used for 10m air rifle elimination or qualification events, ties are broken by the highest score of the last 10-shot series, and then by comparing decimal scores on a shot-by-shot basis beginning with the last shot, then the next to the last shot, and so on.
Shotgun Tiebreaking
When more than six athletes qualify for the finals because of tied scores, the ties for the last place in the final must be broken by a shoot-off in accordance with the rules of trap, double trap or skeet. After the shoot-off decides the six athletes, the shoot-off results determine the ranking of all athletes who participated in the shoot-off. Any athletes with the same shoot-off result must have their rankings determined by the Count Back rule.
Count Back Rule
Ties are broken with this method by the following:
- The scores of the last round of 25 targets (double trap 15 doubles) must be compared, and the winner is the athlete with the highest score in that round.
- If any tie remains, the round before last must be compared and, if still not broken, the round before that, and so on.
- If the results of all the rounds are still equal, ties must be decided by counting forward from the first target of the last round (and if necessary, the next to the last round, and so on) until a zero is found. The athlete with the most hits in succession before the zero will be given the higher place.
