LONDON ROAD TO PISTOL SHOOTING AT THE SOURCE OF THE OLYMPIC LEGEND SSF NEWS MAGAZINE’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE SWEDEN , a country well represented for years by Pistol legend HISTORY OF SHOOTING AT THE GAMES CONTINUES RAGNAR SKANAKER , participated in 19 different Olympics with 52 I TODAY WITH THE PISTOL EVENTS, AFTER REVIEWING athletes competing throughout the years, while GREAT BRITAIN , the RIFLE SHOOTING IN THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE YEAR. NEXT host of the next 2012 Olympic Games, also has had a proud tradition of STOP: ROYAL ARTILLERY BARRACKS, WOOLWICH, LONDON. pistol shooting. Starting on the very first edition, in 1896, and then for 16 editions, 51 British athletes have competed in the Olympics. Since that That’s where the 2012 Olympic Games will take place, on the lines of an first edition, when Pistol shooting was accepted among the top sports innovative shooting range, a temporary structure which will be used for as a part of the Olympic competitions, events have changed, and tech- the first time in the history of our sport. There, the five Olympic events nique has evolved dramatically. But the basic skills are still the same: of pistol shooting will take place starting on July 28, when the best a strong mind and a steady hand are required, and there is no tech- shooters of the world will compete in the first pistol match, the 10m Air nological improvement which can substitute for hard training. Hours Pistol Men event. But that’s what will happen in a few weeks, at the and hours of work before a target, competing against yourself, trying to end of July. Let’s take a look back at how this all began. Pistol shooting reach the score that will take you to the top. (Table 1) has been a part of the Games since the very beginning. The founder of the modern Olympics, PIERRE FREDY BARON DE COUBERTIN , creator of the first modern Games in 1896, was a pistol shooter himself. The noble French man was a sport aficionado, practicing boxing, fenc- ing, rugby, rowing and horse riding, but he had a special attachment to pistol shooting, so much that he earned the title of French champion seven times in his lifetime. But in spite of its noble origins, Pistol shoot- ing became a mass sport in the following centuries, and shooters from 115 DIFFERENT NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES have competed in the Games since then. Once again – as seen in Rifle events – US ATH- LETES have been the most active shooters, with 82 athletes competing in Pistol events in 22 different editions of the Olympic Games. Following them, the home nation of the modern Olympics founders, FRANCE , has BARON DE COUBERTIN Pierre Fredy (FRA) participated in 21 editions, placing 62 athletes on the Pistol lines. Photo: Scott Ehardt 6 ISSF NEWS ROAD TO LONDON 1. AMOUNT OF PISTOL SHOOTERS FROM NOCs WHO TAKE PART at the OLYMPIC GAMES MEN 1896-2008 and WOMEN 1976-2008 RANK NOC YEAR TOTAL MEN WOMEN NUMBER OF OG 1 USA 1896-2008 82 72 10 22 2 FRA 1900-2008 62 56 6 21 3 SWE 1908-2000 52 47 5 19 4 GBR 1896-1996 51 48 3 16 5 ITA 1920-2008 45 41 4 20 6 HUN 1912-2008 44 40 4 17 7 GRE 1896-2004 43 41 2 19 8 SUI 1900-2008 41 35 6 16 9 FIN 1912-2008 40 39 1 17 10 TCH 1920-1992 36 33 3 13 11 KOR 1956-2008 35 21 14 12 12 JPN 1956-2008 32 25 7 13 SKANAKER Ragnar (SWE) 13 AUS 1956-2008 31 21 10 13 13 ESP 1920-2008 31 27 4 17 13 GER 1912-2008 31 24 7 9 16 POL 1924-2008 30 26 4 14 PISTOL SHOOTING 17 ARG 1924-2004 29 27 2 15 17 BRA 1920-2008 29 26 3 15 19 URS 1952-1988 28 26 2 9 OLYMPIC LEGENDS 20 BEL 1900-1992 27 25 2 13 20 CHN 1984-2008 27 12 15 7 Pistol shooting is part of the Olympic tradition since its begin- 20 DEN 1896-2004 27 24 3 15 ning, as the founder of the modern Olympics – BARON PIERRE 20 MEX 1924-1984 27 26 1 12 24 POR 1920-2008 23 22 1 13 DE COUBERTIN – was a pistol shooter himself. But in the follow- 24 RUS 1912-2008 23 17 6 5 ing years, some shooters were able to write their name in the his- 26 ROM 1936-2004 22 18 4 15 tory of the Games, and to become Olympic legends in their own 27 NED 1900-1980 21 21 7 right. Legends from the past, such as the most titled pistol shooter 27 THA 1960-2008 21 18 3 12 29 BUL 1952-2008 20 16 4 13 of all times – USA’s ALFRED LANE , a five time Olympic medal- 30 FRG 1968-1988 19 15 4 5 list between 1912 and 1920. Or such as famous Hungarian shooter 31 CAN 1952-2008 16 12 4 12 KAROLY TAKACS , mentioned in all shooting history books. He was 31 CUB 1948-2008 16 14 2 9 a top athlete for years as member of the Hungarian team, but in 31 NOR 1920-1996 16 16 13 34 PER 1948-1988 15 15 8 1938 a hand grenade blew off his right hand. Not a big deal for the 34 PHI 1936-1976 15 15 9 right handed world team title holder, who taught himself to shoot 34 PUR 1948-1976 15 15 8 left handed and won two gold medals at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic 37 COL 1956-2004 14 11 3 12 Games. Events like that happened in the past, so it should not sur- 38 GDR 1968-1988 13 12 1 5 38 VEN 1952-2004 13 11 2 9 prise us that in 1896, a Danish shooter, LOUIS HOLGER NIELSEN 40 AUT 1912-1992 11 9 2 8 was able to win three medals, two in shooting and one in fencing! 40 CHI 1912-2000 11 11 6 40 VIE 1968-2008 11 11 9 43 HKG 1960-2008 10 9 1 10 43 PRK 1976-2008 10 8 2 5 43 UKR 1996-2008 10 8 2 3 43 YUG 1936-2000 10 7 3 9 47 EGY 1924-2008 9 8 1 7 48 BLR 1996-2008 8 4 4 4 48 EUA 1960-1964 8 8 2 48 KAZ 1996-2008 8 4 4 4 48 KEN 1960-1992 8 8 7 48 MON 1936-1984 8 8 4 48 SMR 1960-1996 8 7 1 6 54 CZE 1996-2008 7 4 3 4 54 EUN 1992 7 5 2 1 54 IND 1960-2008 7 6 1 5 54 MGL 1964-2008 7 3 4 10 TOTAL 1896-2008 1446 1245 201 ANZAHL DER PISTOLENSCHÜTZEN ALLER NOKS, DIE AN DEN OLYMPISCHEN SPIELEN TEILNAHMEN MÄNNER 1896-2008 UND FRAUEN 1976-2008 NOMBRE DE TIREURS DE PISTOLET DES CON PARTICIPANT AUX JEUX OLYMPIQUES HOMMES 1896-2008 ET FEMMES 1976-2008 CUÁNTOS TIRADORES DE PISTOLA PROVENIENTES DE NOC’S PARTICIPAN EN LOS JUEGOS OLÍMPICOS HOMBRES 1896-2008 Y MUJERES 1976-2008 Note: 115 countries in total / 111 countries (1245 athletes) for Men TAKACS Karoly (HUN) / 71 countries (201 athletes) for Women Photos: ISSF ISSF NEWS 7 ROAD TO LONDON Some other athletes are living (and competing) legends of our sport, 2. MEDAL STANDING OLYMPIC EVENTS BY such as SCHUMANN , SKANAKER, WANG, GROZDEVA, SEKARIC NOC FOR PISTOL and SALUKVADZE, who are still part of the shooting world as active MEN and WOMEN 1896-2008 shooters or coaches. RALF SCHUMANN , for example, was the only shooter able to win RANK NOC YEAR GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL three Gold medals in the same event, the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, and was one of the only three pistol shooters able to win two Gold medals in the same event back to back, in 1992 and 1996. Schumann 1 USA 1896-2008 12 6 4 22 won three Gold and two Silver medals from 1988 and 2008, absent 2 CHN 1984-2008 8 6 2 16 3 URS 1956-1988 5 4 5 14 from the podium in 2000 only, when he protested a score and got a 4 RUS 1912-2008 4 5 4 13 penalty of two points, missing the bronze by a few decimals. 5 GER 1932-2008 4 4 2 10 In the same year, China’s WANG YIFU, a 10m Air Pistol and 50m 6 BUL 1980-2004 4 2 5 11 Pistol shooter became a true Chinese hero. Earning two Olympic Gold 7 SWE 1912-1992 3 6 5 14 and a total of six Olympic medals, with a twenty-year span between 8 ROM 1952-2000 3 4 4 11 9 FIN 1924-1984 3 1 2 6 his first Bronze at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the Gold 10 EUN 1992 3 1 1 5 won at Athens 2004, he has become one of the most famous sports- 11 GDR 1968-1988 2 5 1 8 men in China. Currently, Wang is the head coach of the Chinese team, 12 FRA 1900-2000 2 3 2 7 and he will try to guide his athletes to the highest step of the medal 13 SUI 1900-2000 2 2 3 7 standings at the London Games as he did in Beijing four years ago. 14 HUN 1948-1988 2 1 2 5 15 ITA 1932-1996 2 3 5 An older champion, Sweden’s RAGNAR SKANAKER, became 16 POL 1968-1972 2 2 part of the history of Pistol shooting at the Games by being one of the 16 UKR 2004-2008 2 2 most consistent shooters of the international scene.