About Paralympic Shooting Sport

About the Sport

1Shooting has been a part of the Paralympic Games since 1976 in Toronto and is open to all athletes who have a physical impairment.

The sport is a test of accuracy and control, in which competitors use pistols or rifles to fire a series of shots at a stationary target.

There are two categories of competition – wheelchair and standing – and athletes compete in rifle and pistol events from distances of 10m, 25m and 50m in men’s, women’s and mixed competitions.

Shooting employs a classification system that allows athletes from different disability classes to compete in the same event either individually or in teams.

The sport is governed by the IPC and co-ordinated by the IPC Shooting Sport Technical Committee following the modified rules of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). These rules take into account the differences that exist between Shooting for the able-bodied and Shooting for persons with an impairment.

Competition Description

The goal of Shooting is to place a series of shots inside the centre ring of the bull's-eye. The target is comprised of 10 concentric scoring rings with a score grade of one to 10, the central ring giving 10 points. In the final, the rings are subdivided into more score zones with 10.9 being the highest possible score.

Shooting competitions are divided into two major events: Air Rifle and Pistol competitions at three distance: 10, 25 and 50m. The rules depend on the gun, the distance, the target, the shooting position, the number of shots and the time limit. Competitors accumulate points for the value of their shots.

Each competition consists of a qualification and a final round. The score in the final round is added to the athlete's score in the qualification round. The winner is the competitor who gathers the most points by the end of the competition.

Of the 12 Paralympic Shooting events, six are open to both women and men, three are open to women only and three are open to men only.

Sports Equipment

Athletes use .22 calibre rifles and air guns (pneumatic, CO2 gas or spring). Upon trigger activation, the CO2 liquid changes to gas and activates the projectile toward the target. The pneumatic rifle uses a multiple pump system to store air pressure in a reservoir and trigger compression activates the projectile toward the target.

For 10m events held with an Air Rifle or Air Pistol, bullets with a diameter of 4.5mm are use. For 25m Pistol events, and 50m Pistol and Rifle events, 5.6mm bullets are used.

The standard target is a cardboard square with concentric white and black rings around a black centre ring (or bull's-eye). For the Paralympic Games, five different targets are used depending on the type of gun. These targets are electronic for increased accuracy.

History

Shooting has been part of the Paralympic Games since Toronto in 1976. Since the 1980 Paralympic Games Shooting has developed from a disability-orientated classification system towards a functional classification system. This has resulted in a reduction in the number of classes from five classes with separate events at the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games to three classes with integrated events since the Atlanta 1996 Paralympics.

In late 2010 the IPC and the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to continue working together in developing Shooting further in the years ahead.

It covers several areas including management, promotion of competitions and events, knowledge exchange and general development of the Paralympic Sport and participating athletes.

While the IPC’s shooting competitions will remain completely independent in the near future, it was agreed that ISSF would work with IPC Shooting to identify suitable ISSF Technical Officials to be involved in IPC recognized competitions. In such cases, the ISSF would remain as the sole and supreme authority controlling the certification of ISSF officials.


Read more about Paralympic: http://www.paralympic.org/Shooting/About