It’s the highest number of participating Nations ever, since 1896. The Shooting Sport scores an important record in terms of participation at the 2012 Olympic Games, proving its universality.
When only 10 days are left to go to the first competition day of the XXX Olympic Games in London, the entry numbers are finally confirmed. And it’s a record: 390 shooters from 108 countries will participate in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, placing shooting in the top-4 of the most universal sports together with Athletics, Swimming and Judo.
It’s an excellent result, which shuttered all the previous records. Never before in the Games history, since the very first edition in 1896 when shooting was included in the Olympic program, the sport had recorded such a high number of participating nations. In 2004, 106 nations had participated in shooting events, while in Beijing 2008 103 countries had qualified for the Games in shooting.
“It’s an extraordinary result, which proves once again the universality of our sport.” The ISSF Secretary General, Franz Schreiber, commented.
“Shooting is a sport practiced all around the world, and athletes from all the continents have the chance to qualify and compete in the Olympics, in one of our disciplines. We are looking forward to great competitions, in London.”
Following a long lasting tradition, Shooting will assign the very first Gold medal of the Olympics in ten days, on Saturday 28.07.2012 at the 10m Air Rifle Women Final starting at 11:00 AM.
The ISSF has launched a dedicated London 2012 page on its website, at http://www.issf-sports.org/pages/roadtolondon_2012.ashx where you will find all the info related to Shooting competitions at the Olympics.