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The 131:st IOC Session in Lima has decided that Shooting is confirmed on the sports program of the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France.
For Olympic Shooting Sports we need gun powder, not lasers! Shooting has been parts of the Olympic Games since the beginning, and there’s no reason to stop it now. Make it more friendly for the Television-format and the public? Of course, certainly. But don’t ban it!
In many cases I think that IOC and the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) have been working against the shooting sports.
At the current Olympic Games, there are nine events for men and six for women. The events are divided into three groups: rifle, pistol and shotgun. The rifle and pistol events are held on shooting ranges, with competitors aiming at targets from distances of 10 metres, 25 metres and 50 metres. In the shotgun event, competitors shoot at clay targets propelled in a series of different directions.
I say bring in more dynamic shooting sports like Practical Rifle Long Range Shooting and USPSA/IPSC instead. I’m sure Practical Shotgun would gather more people than some of the clay shooting.
The Press Release from ISSF reads:
The 131st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Lima – on proposal of the IOC Executive Board – has confirmed the place of Shooting in the sports programme of the Olympic Games 2024.
The ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña received a letter from the IOC President Thomas Bach officially stating the decision.
“The IOC thanks you for the ongoing partnership we share in the planning and delivery of the Olympic Games, and your ongoing focus on your sport and athletes.” The IOC President’s letter reads. “The IOC looks forward to our continued collaboration with regard to the preparation for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the first steps towards our shared goals for the Olympic Games 2024.”
The ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña said:
“We are honored to learn that Shooting will be part of the sports programme of Paris 2024. Shooting has been part of the modern Olympic Games since the very first edition, and we are committed in being a trusted partner for the IOC in the delivery of the next Games.”
“We are a traditional and universal sport, constantly looking forward to the future,” added Mr Vazquez Raña. “In these years, we have been working to update our competition formats and our finals, in order to attract new athletes and appeal international audiences. Rio 2016 has been a true milestone for our sport. But we did not stop there.”
“ISSF and the Shooting sport keep on evolving on the road to Tokyo 2020 – and now Paris 2024 – with the introduction of new Mixed Team events and further updates to our rules, aiming to accomplish gender equality and to further spread our sport at grassroots level.”
The IOC and the ISSF will undergo detailed discussions regarding the events programme, athlete quotas and venue planning.
“We are looking forward to an inclusive decision process within our Federation while moving the next steps, involving the whole Shooting sport family in the discussion,” Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña concluded.
Now I only hope that the new IPSC Practical Shooting President Vitaly Kruchin (Yes, the man who plays Beethoven with Glocks) succeeds in getting IPSC approved as an Olympic Sports. Will it happen before I die, or ever? If he succeeds I’ll be there either to shoot or watch.
In fact, France just hosted the IPSC Handgun World Shoot and they are hosting the IPSC Shotgun World Shoot 2018. They have a great shooting range for the purpose, within driving distance from Paris.
