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International Shooting Sport Federation

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The ISSF

Championships

The ISSF, the International Shooting Sport Federation, supervises shooting sport competitions in the:

- Olympic Games
- Youth Olympic Games
- World Championships
- World Cups
- World Cup Finals
- Continental Championships and Continental Games.

All Medal Winners since 1896

Find out all the  MEDAL WINNERS since 1896. All the events, all the competitions, all the medals awarded in the last 115 years!

Cycles

- Olympic Game are organized every four years

- Youth Olympic Games are organized every four years, two years after the Olympic Games

- ISSF World Championships are organized every fourth year, two years after each Olympic Games. It includes all the shooting events governed by the ISSF

- Separate ISSF World Championships for Shotgun events are organized in the next year following World Championships and the Olympic Games

- Continental Championships/Games are organized every two years following the Olympic Games and the World Championships

- ISSF World Cup Series are organized every year. 4 World Cup Stages for Rifle&Pistol and 4 World Cup Stages for Shotgun are organized by Members Federations by appointment of the ISSF

- ISSF World Cup Finals in Rifle&Pistol and Shotgun events are organized every year.

2009
2010
2011
2012

Youth Olympic Games
Singapore 2010

 Olympic Games London 2012
ISSF World Championship Shotgun
50th ISSF World Championship All Events
ISSF World Championship Shotgun

Continental Championships

Continental Championships
ISSF World Cup
ISSF World Cup ISSF World Cup ISSF World Cup
ISSF World Cup Final
ISSF World Cup Final ISSF World Cup Final ISSF World Cup Final













For a complete overview of the next ISSF competitions and championships, please check our calendar.

Disciplines

The ISSF recognizes shooting sport events in four disciplines:

- Rifle
- Pistol
- Running Target
- Shotgun

All events can be conducted as individual and team events - three members by teams - for men, women, men junior and women junior.


RIFLE

Competition:
In all the rifle events, competitors earn points by shooting at a 10-ring target. The shooter who totalizes the most points throughout the all competition wins. In the Finals (Olympic events only), the 10 rings on the target are sub-divided into ten score-zones. The highest score for a shot is therefore 10.9 points. The final-round score is added to the qualification-round score to determine the winner.
Distances:
ISSF Rifle competitions include 10 meters, 50 meters and 300 meters events. 
Positions: Shooters fire from standing, kneeling and prone positions, depending on the event and on the stege of the competition. In the standing position, the rifle is held with both hands and rests on the shoulder, and the left arm may be supported on the chest or hip. When kneeling, the right-handed shooter may touch the ground with the toe of the right foot, the right knee and the left foot. In the prone position, a shooter may not let the rifle rest against, or touch, any object. The right-handed shooter's left forearm must form an angle of at least 30 degrees from the horizontal.
Rifle Sights: Only "metallic" sights are permitted, which have no lenses or system of lenses. Coloured filters are permitted and the rear sight has fine adjustments for windage and elevation.


PISTOL

Competition: Pistol events are scored the same as rifle events, with competitors aiming at a 10-ring target. During Finals (Olympic events), the 10 rings on the target are sub-divided into ten score-zones.The highest score for a shot is therefore 10.9 points. The final-round score is added to the qualification-round score to determine the winner. The shooter who totalizes the highest score wins.
Distances: ISSF Pistol competitions include 10 meters, 25 meters and 50 meters events. 
Positions: Pistol shooters use a standing position and must hold and fire the gun with one hand, with the wrist clearly free of support.
Pistol sights: Only "open" sights are permitted. The open sights consist of a post or blade sight at the front and the notch at the rear. Optical, mirror, telescope, laser beam or electronically projected dot, sights are prohibited. The rear sight usually has fine adjustments for windage and elevation.


RUNNING TARGET

Competition: In the men's running target events, competitors shoot at a moving target. The event involves a "slow run" and a "fast run" stage. A third event will be shot as “mixed” event. 
Distances: ISSF Running Target competitions include 10 meters and 50 meters events.
Position: The shooter stand unsupported and shoots in a standing position, starting with his rifle at hip level and raising it only after the target appears.
Sights: No optical sights are permitted.


SHOTGUN

Competition: In all 3 of the Shotgun events (Trap, Double Trap and Skeet) the shooters, drawn in Squads of 6, must stand on designated shooting stations to shoot at clay targets which are released on or after the shooter’s command. A “HIT” is declared when the target is shot at according to the rules and at least 1 visible piece is seen by the Referee to fall from it. The shooter who hits the most targets (qualification rounds + Finals) wins.
Shotguns and cartridges: Shotguns must be smooth bored. They are invariably 12-gauge and of the single trigger “over-under” type (one barrel above the other) and fire cartridges loaded with pellets. The weight of the pellet load must not exceed 24.5g and each pellet must not exceed 2.6 mm diameter. Guns and cartridges are subject to official checks during the shooting program. The maximum effective range of such a clay target shotgun is considered to be about 50m.
Clay targets: The flying saucer shaped clay target is about 110mm (4 inches) in diameter and about 25mm (1 inch) in height. It is actually not made of clay but is a mixture of pitch and chalk. It is coloured bright orange for better sighting and the targets used in Finals rounds also contain a powder that is more easily seen by spectators and on television when the target is hit (so called flash powder).
Clay target launching machines: These are called “traps”. They are sophisticated automatic machines that are capable of throwing a clay target the trajectories and distances required for each event. The target is released from the trap via a microphone system that responds to the call of the shooter.

Juniors

Juniors are shooters who will be under the age of 21 on December 31st in the year of the competition. Juniors may participate in all ISSF Championships or Olympic Games as members of their national team. Junior events may be added to the World Championships as official events by the Organizing Committee, with the approval of the Executive Committee. Junior events should be included in Continental Championships by decision of the Continental Confederation. Junior events for men junior and women junior should be chosen from the recognized ISSF events, or be events designed to support the development of junior shooters.

Rules And Procedures

Differences between the ISSF World Championships and Olympic Games
On the programme of the Olympic Games 2008, there are 15 shooting events. At the ISSF World Championships there are 55: there are additional 300m rifle events, 50m running target events as well as further 50m rifle, 25m pistol, 10m running target events and additional shotgun events.  In most events there are four categories: Men, Women, Men Junior and Women Junior. All events at ISSF World Championships are held in individual and team competitions (three team members).

Tie Break Procedures

In the Qualification rounds of rifle and pistol events (except for 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men) to decide who qualifies for the finals ties are broken by comparing the inner tens (a smaller ring inside the ten used for deciding ties) scored by the shooters thorughout the all qualification series. If the score remains tied, then the shooters have to go trough a shoot-off to decide the finalists.

In the Qualification rounds of all Shotgun events and the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men event, shoot-offs are held to break ties to decide who should participate in the Finals. In all Finals, shoot-offs will be used to break any ties.

Penalties / Disqualification Rules

Score Protests: a shooter may make a Score Protest about the value of a shot. If this is denied a two-point penalty is automatically incurred. Such protests are resolved by the Classification Jury using accredited techniques. Other Penalties / Disqualification are in accordance with the ISSF Rules. Most common reasons for penalties are cross-fired shots, and for disqualification failure of rifle clothing being too stiff, and failure of pistol trigger weight test (too light).

Appeals and Protests

In accordance with the ISSF Rules, events have specific protest/appeal times. Official results are not published until problems, if any, are resolved. For the benefit of the Media and Spectators, Preliminary Results may be released for some events.

Records

Olympic Records (OR) may be established only in the Olympic shooting events in the Olympic Games.
World Records (WR) and World Records Junior (WRJ) may be established in all recognized ISSF Men's, Women's and Junior events, and in Olympic Games, ISSF World Championships, ISSF World Cup Finals, ISSF World Cups, Continental Championships and Continental Games which have been conducted according to the ISSF Rules.
Final Olympic Records (FOR) may be established only in the Olympic shooting events in the Olympic Games.
Final World Records (FWR) may be established only in Olympic events for Men and Women in all ISSF recognised championships and are comprised of the results of the Qualification added to the results of the Finals for each event.

Difference between the Olympic Games and World Championships

On the program of the Olympic Games, there are 15 shooting events. At the ISSF World Championships there are also 300m rifle and 50m running target events as well as further 50m rifle, 25m pistol and 10m running target events in men, women and junior categories. All events are held in individual and team competitions (three team members)