New competition rules for Olympic event finals are being introduced during the 2010 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final that is kicking-off in Munich today.
The ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final is kicking-off today at the 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich. It could be destined to become a milestone in shooting sport history.
New rules for shooting event finals are being introduced and tested during this World Cup Final. The office of the ISSF Secretary General explained that these changes are designed to make shooting finals more appealing.
The decision to change how shooting finals are conducted was made after TV productions made during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were analyzed by the International Olympic Committee Olympic Broadcast System (IOC-OBS) and ISSF. The analysis by IOC-OBS and ISSF experts proposed a series of changes that are now being tested during the 2010 World Cup Final. The ISSF Technical Delegate for the World Cup Final, Gary Anderson, said “ISSF leaders are confident these changes will make the presentation of the shooting sport more exciting and interesting to spectators and television viewers.”
If the tests at the World Cup Final are successful, the changes will be presented for approval to the ISSF Administrative Council when it meets in November. If approved by the Council, these changes will be incorporated into ISSF Rules that will be used during the 2011 and 2012 ISSF competition seasons, as well as during the 2012 London Olympic Games. The rule changes being tested in Munich mainly concern when finalists’ warm ups and presentations take place. A new ISSF Dress Code that was introduced earlier in 2010 will also be incorporated into the ISSF Rules.
- Order for Preparation, Sighting Shots and Athletes Presentation:
Current ISSF Rules call for the presentation (introduction) of finalists BEFORE they complete their preparation or warm-up period and sighting shots. These warm-up activities are followed by a pause to reset the targets before the first record shot is fired. This created a problem for television productions because broadcasters and spectators are interested in the presentation of finalists, but most broadcasters do not want to show warm-up activities. The OBS-ISSF analysis concluded that reversing the order of these final round warm-up procedures could solve this problem. The new procedures have the athletes complete their preparation periods and sighting shots first. The athlete presentations are then made AFTER their warm-ups and immediately before the first final round record shots. After finalists complete their sighting shots, they must set their rifles or pistols down and turn to face spectators so they can be introduced. After their introductions, they are given two minutes to return to their firing positions. Immediately after that, the commands for the first final round shots begin. The result is that eight and one-half minutes of “dead time” at the beginning of each final is eliminated.
- ISSF Dress Code:
The new ISSF Dress Code that was introduced earlier in 2010 was designed to ensure that all competitors in ISSF Championships wear competition clothing appropriate for an international sporting event. Clothing such as jeans and work or ordinary casual clothes are no longer permitted. Sports uniforms that display national colors are now required. Anderson said “the new ISSF Dress Code has already produced a significant improvement in the images presented by shooting athletes while they are competing and appearing in ISSF-TV and television productions.”