Shooting 2020 Tokyo Olympic Review

Men’s 10m Air Pistol

India entered the competition with the world's top two ranked shooters, but it was unheralded Saurabh Chaudhary (India) who made the final. He led the field through qualification, having not turned 20. Of the top five ranked shooters, Wei Pang (China) edged through in seventh and Javad Foroughi (Iran) made it through. In the final, Chaudhary was the second man out. Damir Mikec (Serbia), Pang and Pavlo Korostylov (Ukraine) formed a cluster in the final, but leading them was Foroughi. The battle for bronze was fierce and it ended up being Korostylov that missed out. Mikec pulled away from Pang over the last few shots but he could not keep up with Foroughi, who beat him by seven points, setting an Olympic record to take gold.

🥇Javed Foroughi 🇮🇷

🥈Damir Mikec 🇷🇸

🥉Wei Pang 🇨🇳

Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol

On course one, Jean Quiquampoix (France) and Clement Bessaguet (France) led scoring with 297. On course two, Pavlo Korostylov (Ukraine) shot 294, ahead of Leuris Pupo (Cuba). It was the consistency of Christian Reitz (Germany) who qualified with the best score. In the final, Quiquampoix led at the first elimination stage, which saw Lin Junmin (China). Quiquampoix extended his lead to two with three rounds to go. Pupo chipped away at the lead in the following round but when Quiquampoix shot a five compared to the three of Pupo, it opened an unassailable lead.

🥇Jean Quiquampoix 🇫🇷

🥈Leuris Pupo 🇨🇺

🥉Li Yuehong 🇨🇳

Men’s 10m Air Rifle

It was Yang Haoran (China) who led qualifying, setting an Olympic qualification record. He finished ahead of Lucas Kozeniesky (United States) and William Shaner (United States). Istvan Peni (Hungary), the number one ranked shooter, qualified in seventh, whilst world number two Divyansh Singh Panwar (India) did not make it to the final. Shaner led the final early and after the second end, never relinquished that lead. Behind him, Sheng Lihao (China) did exactly the same with the second position. Kozeniesky was the third shooter out before Peni. It came down to Omer Akgun (Turkey) and Haoran in the battle for third and Haoran was able to take it.

🥇William Shaner 🇺🇸

🥈Sheng Lihao 🇨🇳

🥉Yang Haoran 🇨🇳

Men’s 50m Rifle Positions

In the kneeling phase of qualification, Henrik Larsen (Norway) led with a score of 398, ahead of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (India) on 397. The prone phase scored the highest, led by Larsen on 400. Behind him, both Milenko Sebic (Serbia) and Petr Nymbursky (Czech Republic) scored 399. Qualification came down to the standing phase, led by Zhang Changhong (China) on 393, ahead of Patrick Jany (Slovakia) and Sergey Kamenskiy (Russia) on 391, which saw Kamenskiy top the rankings. Larsen only managed 377 and missed qualification for the final, despite leading the first two disciplines. In the final, Changhong led after the kneeling phase with a score of 155.6 ahead of Yury Shcherbatsevich (Belarus) on 155.5. He would pull away in the prone phase and after two rounds of standing, led by 0.7 to Kamenskiy. As the elimination rounds set in, Kamenskiy was never able to reduce that deficit. Changhong remained in control throughout and set a new world record.

🥇Zhang Changhong 🇨🇳

🥈Sergey Kamenskiy 🇷🇺

🥉Milenko Sebic 🇷🇸

Men’s Skeet

In qualification, two men equalled an Olympic record of 124. Eric Delaunay (France) and Tammaro Cassandro (Italy) set that record, with Delaunay originally looking on course to match a world record 125 after a strong start. Back on 122 were six men with only three qualifying spots leading to some shoot-off drama. Highly ranked Federico Gil (Argentina) and Stefan Nilsson (Sweden) missed out on the final. In the final, Cassandro and Delaunay were the first two eliminated. An eight from Eetu Kallioinen (Finland) saw him eliminated from contention. It was another eight for Abdullah Al-Rashidi (Kuwait) that eliminated him into bronze. Vincent Hancock (United States) led Jesper Hansen (Denmark) by one point. When Hansen hit a seven, the gold was all but guaranteed for Hancock and he shot a ten to set an Olympic record of 59.

🥇Vincent Hancock 🇺🇸

🥈Jesper Hansen 🇩🇰

🥉Abdullah Al-Rashidi 🇰🇼

Men’s Trap

Jiri Liptak (Czech Republic) led qualification with a 124. Four more shooters tied on 123, with the shoot-off for places seeing Matthew Coward-Holley (Great Britain) hit another 21 shots to qualify in second, ahead of Abdulrahman Al-Faihan (Kuwait). Six men tied on 122 and battled for the final place in the final. Jorgé Oroczo (Mexico) won with a score of seventeen. Ten shots into the final, it was Oroczo who had not missed a shot ahead of David Kostelecky (Czech Republic). His first miss came in his 20th shot, leaving him still in the lead. Al-Faihan was the first man eliminated and, at the halfway point, Kostelecky led on 23 with Oroczo on 22 and Coward-Holley on 21. Oroczo, who had led for so long, lost out in the cruellest fashion, finishing fourth. Coward-Holley was next out, winning bronze but leaving an all-Czech final. Kostelecky led by two points at the 40-shot mark but would miss three of his next five, before hitting the final five to send it to a shoot-off. It was Kostelecky who missed first, handing the gold to his compatriot.

🥇Jiri Liptak 🇨🇿

🥈David Kostelecky 🇨🇿

🥉Matthew Coward-Holley 🇬🇧

Women’s 10m Air Pistol

Jiang Ranxin (China) matched the qualification world record, finishing two points ahead of the current holder of that record, Anna Korakaki (Greece). Number one ranked shooter Yashaswini Singh Deswal (India) and teammate Manu Bhaker (India) both missed out on qualifying for the final. In the final, it was Antoaneta Kostadinova (Bulgaria) who took the early lead as the French pair and Korakaki both dropped out of the competition. Lin Yuemei (China) and Olena Kostevych (Ukraine) were the final two shooters to exit before the medal positions were decided. Kostadinova led by 1.9 points ahead of Ranxin, who was 0.1 ahead of Vitalina Batsarashkina (Russia) but Ranxin did not manage to score enough on her eighth leg and was eliminated. Batsarashkina completed her comeback with a 20.9 whilst Kostadinova faltered, only scoring 19.

🥇Vitalina Batsarashkina 🇷🇺

🥈Antoaneta Kostadinova 🇧🇬

🥉Jiang Ranxin 🇨🇳

Women’s 25m Air Pistol

In the precision stage of qualification, Zorana Arunovic (Serbia) led with a score of 296 in qualifying. Behind her was Anna Korakaki (Greece) on 294 and Antoaneta Kostadinova (Bulgaria) on 293. In the rapid-fire stage, it was Doreen Vennekamp (Germany) who led on 299 ahead of Kostadinova on 297. Kostadinova was the overall leader in qualifications, ahead of Xiao Jiaruixuan (China). Kim Min-jung (South Korea) took the early lead in the final scoring 16 after four series. By the end of the sixth series, she had been joined by Vitalina Batsarashkina (Russia) and they were still tied at the end of the following series. Elimination came down to a three-way shootout between Jiaruixuan, Kostadinova and Wu Chia-ying (Taiwan). It was Chia-ying who went out, but the following round it was the same again. In a battle for bronze, it was Jiaruixuan who prevailed. Min-jung took the lead in round nine, but only hit a four, with Batsarashkina hitting a five. When it come down to the shootout, the Russian won 4-1, setting an Olympic record.

🥇Vitalina Batsarashkina 🇷🇺

🥈Kim Min-jung 🇰🇷

🥉Xiao Jiaruixuan 🇨🇳

Women’s 10m Air Rifle

Jeanette Hegg Duestad (Norway) set an Olympic qualification record with a score of 632.9. Behind her were Hee-mon Park (South Korea) and Mary Tucker (United States). Elavenil Valarivan (India), the number one ranked shooter, did not make the final. The tension ramped up in the final as the bottom two would have a shoot-off to eliminate one shooter. First out was Park, before Eun-ji Kwon (South Korea) and Tucker. Oceanne Muller (France) had flirted with danger and finally finished fifth. Duestad lost out in the bronze medal battle to Nina Christen (Switzerland). In the gold medal shoot out Anastasiia Galashina (Russia), who had led for a long period, finally faltered on her final shot, only scoring 8.9. Qian Yang (China) herself had only scored 9.8, but it was enough to get the gold medal and set an Olympic record of 251.8

🥇Qian Yang 🇨🇳

🥈Anastasiia Galashina 🇷🇺

🥉Nina Christen 🇨🇭

Women’s 50m Air Rifle Three Positions

Andrea Arsovic (Serbia) led qualification after the kneeling phase with a 396, with several shooters back on 394. Yulia Zykova (Russia) and Sagen Maddalena (United States) were two of those and they took control of the lead with a 399 in the prone phase. Both Ziva Dvorsak (Slovenia) and Fatemeh Karamzadeh (Iran) scored 398. Nina Christen (Switzerland) trailed the leaders by eleven but led the standing phase with a 392. It was Zykova who topped qualification by four points, setting an Olympic record. In the final, Zykova led Jolyn Beer (Germany) after the kneeling phase. She extended that lead in the prone phase, with Jeanette Hegg Duestad (Norway) back in second. At the first elimination, after two rounds of standing, Arsovic and Dvorsak were eliminated, with Zykova leading by 1.8. However, a poor shot of 9.0 from the Russian, brought Christen back level, with a 9.1 costing Beer her place in the final. Maddalena was next to be eliminated, whilst an 8.6 saw Duestad fall out of contention for the medals. The key shot came in the eleventh as Christen shot a point better, allowing her to get an advantage that she would not give up.

🥇Nina Christen 🇨🇭

🥈Yulia Zykova 🇷🇺

🥉Yulia Karimova 🇷🇺

Woman’s Skeet

In qualification, it was a joint world record set by Wei Meng (China) with a brilliant 124, ahead of Diana Bacosi (Italy). Amber Hill (Great Britain), the world number one, missed the Games after testing positive for Covid-19 and Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit (Thailand) was the highest ranked shooter to miss out on the final. Natalia Vinogradova (Russia) was the first athlete eliminated, followed by Nadine Messerschmidt (Germany). The following round saw Isarapa Imprasertsuk (Thailand) go out on 36, tied with Meng. Despite shooting a ten in the following round, Meng was knocked out on 46 with Bacosi and English on 47. Bacosi could only score an eight, whilst English hit nine to take gold and set an Olympic record.

🥇Amber English 🇺🇸

🥈Diana Bacosi 🇮🇹

🥉Wei Meng 🇨🇳

Women’s Trap

Zuzana Rehak-Stefecekova (Slovakia) set a world record in qualification, scoring a perfect 125. Behind her was Alessandra Perilli (San Marino), who was looking to win San Marino’s first-ever medal in any sport, on 122, ahead of Silvana Stanco (Italy) and Laetisha Scanlan (Australia). The first elimination in the final was Penny Smith (Australia). The battle for bronze was most competitive, with both Perilli and Scanlan on 26. Perilli progressed thanks to her superior qualification score. Three points behind the leaders, she could not catch up and was out, securing a historic bronze. Both Kayle Browning (United States) and Rehan-Stefecekova begun the final stage on 34. Browning missed her first shot to hand the advantage to the Slovak shooter, only for her to miss her fifth. Browning would also then miss her fifth target. Rehan-Stefecekova would not miss another shot, taking the victory.

🥇Zuzana Rehak-Stefecekova 🇸🇰

🥈Kayle Browning 🇺🇸

🥉Alessandra Perilli 🇸🇲

Mixed 10m Air Pistol Team

Bhaker/Chaudhary (India) led the first qualifying stage, totalling 582. Just one behind them, were the pairs of Batsarashkina/Chernousov (Russia) and Ranxin/Wei (China). The second stage had only two series instead of three, and it was the Chinese pair who led with 387, again one ahead of Russia and Kostevych/Omelchuk (Ukraine). In the final, Russia took an 8-4 lead only for China to take the next eight points, giving them a lead that they would never relinquish. In the bronze medal match, Ukraine went up 6-2 against Arunovic/Mikec (Serbia) only for them to fight back into an 8-6 lead. Ukraine had a comeback in them though, and went on to win 16-12.

🥇Jiang Ranxin/Pang Wei 🇨🇳

🥈Vitalina Batsarashkina/Artem Chernousov 🇷🇺

🥉Olena Kostevych/Oleh Omelchuk 🇺🇦

Mixed 10m Air Rifle Team

Qian/Haoran (China) won the opening qualification stage with a world record of 633.2. Hanging onto their coattails were Stankiewicz/Bartnik (Poland) and Eun-ji/Tae-yun (South Korea). The Chinese pair also topped the second qualifying phase with a score of 419.7, whilst Tucker/Koszeniesky (United States) finished second with 418. The bronze medal matchup was between the Korean pair and Karimova/Kamenskiy (Russia). Again it swung in roundabouts, as Korea went 4-0 up before falling behind 6-4. They responded by increasing their lead to 13-7 and went on to win 17-9. In the gold medal match, it was the US who took an early lead going 9-5 up, before China won 10 of the next 12 points eventually taking the win 17-13.

🥇Yang Qian/Yang Haoran 🇨🇳

🥈Mary Tucker/Lucas Kozeniesky 🇺🇸

🥉Yulia Karimova/Sergey Kamenskiy 🇷🇺

Mixed Trap Team

Galvez/Fernandez (Spain) and Perilli/Berti (San Marino) set a joint Olympic record of 148, ahead of Rehak-Stefecekova/Varga (Slovakia) and Bernau/Burrows (United States) on 146. In the bronze medal match, both the female shooters scored 19 with Rehak-Stefecekova missing three of her last four. The men both scored 23 meaning it went to another shoot-off. It was Slovakia who missed out, being the first to miss a shot. In the final, Perilli scored 23 out of 25, with Galvez only scoring 17. A 24 from Fernandez was enough as Berti missed two of his last three.

🥇Alberto Fernandez/Fatima Galvez 🇪🇸

🥈Gian Marco/Alessandra Perilli 🇸🇲

🥉Brian Burrows/Madelynn Bernau 🇺🇸