Mens 10m Air Rifle
China has won six medals at the last six Olympics. Winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics was Sheng Lihao (China). He has a world championship bronze medal from 2022 and won the 2023 World Cup event in Bhopal. In 2024, he won World Cup events in Baku and Munich. The other Chinese competitor is Du Linshu (China) who has a runner-up finish in World Cup events in 2023 and 2024. Zalan Pekler (Hungary) had his best year in 2023 when he won World Cup events in Baku and Lima. Also winning a World Cup event was Naoya Okada (Japan) as he won in Jakarta and was second in Lima. The 2023 world champion is Victor Lindgren (Sweden). In third was Frantisek Smetana (Czechia). Perhaps compatriot Jiri Privratsky (Czechia) is expected to do better. He was a bronze medalist at the 2023 European Games and also at the World Cup events in Lima in 2023 and Cairo in 2022. Lazar Kovacevic (Serbia) won in 2022 in Baku and was runner-up in the 2023 World Cup Final. Arjun Babuta (India) also won a 2022 World Cup event in Changwon. He was also a runner-up at the 2023 Asian Championship. Park Ja-hun (South Korea) was runner-up at the 2023 Asian Games. Milan Maricic (Croatia), is a former bronze medallist, finishing there in 2018. He also has a European Championship bronze from 2022. The silver medalist in the 2022 World Championship was Danilo Sollazzo (Italy). He also won the 2022 World Cup event in Cairo and the 2023 European Games. Maximilian Ulbrich (Germany) was second and won the 2023 European Championship. Patrick Jany (Slovakia) was second there after winning the 2022 European Championship. Edson Ramirez (Mexico) won the 2023 Pan-American Games. Islam Satpatev (Kazakhstan) was fourth at the 2023 World Championship and will be hoping to compete along with Alexander Schmirl (Austria), Jon-Hermann Hegg (Norway), Maciej Kowalewicz (Poland) and Martin Strempfl (Austria).
Lihao looks like a strong favourite here. Not only does he have big event pedigree, but he also enters the event having been in strong form this year. The current world champion Lindgren is a tough one to weigh up as none of his other form suggests he will be competing for gold here. He is still young though and if holding his nerve, he can clearly compete with the big names. Okada, Pekler and Ulbrich were particularly impressive in 2023. Jany and Solazzo are other contenders who have had strong performances in major championships.
🥇Sheng Lihao 🇨🇳
🥈Zalan Pekler 🇭🇺
🥉Danilo Sollazzo 🇮🇹
Mens 50m Rifle 3 Positions
The current world champion is Alexander Schmirl (Austria) after a strong 2023 where he performed well in World Cup events. Behind him at the World Championships was Petr Nymbursky (Czech Republic). He finished third in the 2023 World Cup events in Baku and Lima. The winner of the 2023 European Games was Zalan Pekler(Hungary). Pekler also won a World Cup event, winning in Jakarta in 2023. Compatriot Istvan Peni (Hungary) has has six World Cup podiums since the start of 2022 without winning an event. Jiri Privratsky (Czech Repulbic) has won four events in that time frame, as well as finishing fourth at the 2023 World Cup Final and runner-up at the 2023 European Games. Du Linshu (China) is the leading Chinese hope, having also won a 2023 World Cup event, in Bhopal as well as the Asian Games. Compatriot Yukun Liu (China) won World Cup events in both 2023 and 2024, as well as finishing runner-up at the 2023 World Cup Final. Lucas Kryzs (France) won that event and was a bronze medalist at the 2024 European Championship. Serhiy Kulish (Ukraine) was the world champion in 2022 and finished fourth in 2023. Tomasz Bartnik (Poland) was behind him in 2022, winning silver and is also a former world champion, winning in 2018. Jon-Hermann Hegg (Norway) is another consistent top-tier competitor. He was fourth in Tokyo and won the 2021 European Championship before winning bronze in the 2022 World Championship. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (India) is only 23 but has experienced great success in World Cup events. He won in Changwon in 2022, and Cairo in 2023 and was also the winner of the 2023 Asian Championships. Compatriot Swapnil Kusale (India) has not got the same level of results but does have a fourth place in the 2023 World Championship. Aleksi Leppa (Finland), Christoph Duerr (Switzerland) and Romain Aufrere (France) are also potential contenders.
The Chinese athletes are bound to be competitive here and my preference is with Liu. Tomar looks like emerging as a dominant force but does this come a bit too early? Kulish and Schmirl are the last two World Champions and have also been consistently strong over the last few years. Hegg, Nymbursky, Pekler and Privratsky are the other consistent performers who I think have a real chance of competing here. Peni has also been consistently strong but seems to be no danger of winning. Krzys probably hasn’t shown the same level of results but at home, you wonder if he can be inspired.
🥇Serhiy Kulish 🇺🇦 🥈Jiri Privratsky 🇨🇿
🥉Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 🇮🇳
Mens 10m Air Pistol
In eight of the nine versions of the event, China has won a medal. They have two cracks at the medals here. The current world champion is Zhang Bowen (China) after finishing fifth in 2022. Yu Xie (China) won the World Cup event in Baku to start the year. The silver medalist at the 2023 World Championship was Damir Mikec (Serbia), as he was at the Tokyo Olympics. He was also the 2023 European champion and has won World Cup events. In 2022 it was Baku and Changwon, whilst in 2023 it was Lima. The bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championship was Kiril Kirov (Bulgaria). In fourth was Ismail Keles (Turkey) who won the 2023 European Games gold. Behind him in second was Robin Walter (Germany) and he was the winner of the 2022 European Championship. Paolo Monna (Italy) was a bronze medal winner at the 2023 European Games and European Championship, whilst runner-up in the 2023 World Cup event in Cairo. Ruslan Lunev (Azerbaijan) was runner-up in both the 2023 Bhopal World Cup event and the European Games. The winner of the Bhopal event was Sarabjot Singh (India). Juraj Tuzinsky (Slovakia) has won a World Cup event each of the last three years. It was Rio in 2022, Cairo in 2023 and Granada in 2024. He also won the 2021 European Championship, finishing second in 2022 and 2024. In the 2024 Granada event, he finished ahead of Lauris Strautmanis (Lativa), his third podium in the World Cup events over the last 18 months. Federico Nilo Maldini (Italy) got the win in Rio in 2023. The bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championship was Pavlo Korostylov (Ukraine) and he was also fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. Christian Reitz (Germany) came fifth in Tokyo and was a silver medalist at the 2018 World Cup final. Lee Won-ho (South Korea) was fourth at the 2022 World Championship and was also a runner-up at the 2023 Asian Games. Gulfam Joseph (Pakistan) and Jason Solari (Switzerland) are both potential contenders.
Bowen would be the likeliest of the Chinese competitors and given their medal record you have to expect he can compete. Mikec has been the unluckiest man it feels like in recent years so can this be the year he gets the gold? Tuzinsky is another who has quite often been on the podium without always getting gold. Korostylov has back class without strong current form. Monna and Walter are the other European contenders whilst Singh and Wan-ho can compete from Asia.
🥇Robin Walter 🇩🇪
🥈Juraj Tuzinsky 🇸🇰
🥉Zhang Bowen 🇨🇳
Mens 25m Rapid Fire Pistol
A lot of the contenders here have already tasted Olympic success. Jean Quiquampoix (France) is the reigning Olympic champion improving on his silver medal from 2016. He was also a bronze medalist at the 2018 World Championship and won the 2021 European Championship. Leuris Pupo (Cuba) was the Tokyo silver medalist after winning gold in London in 2012. Li Yuehong (China) was the final Tokyo Olympic medalist, winning bronze. He is the current world champion and also won the 2023 World Cup event in Baku. Christian Reitz (Germany) is the 2016 Olympic champion and won bronze in 2008. Clement Bessaguet (France) will be hoping to compete in front of his home crowd. He has been the silver medalist at the last two World Championships and in 2023 was the European Games winner. He finished second in the 2023 World Cup events in Cairo, Bhopal and Baku whilst winning in Lima. Sang Jong-ho (South Korea) has all three podium spots over the last eighteen months, winning in Cairo earlier this year. Runner-up at the 2023 Asian Championship was Dai Yoshioka (Japan) who won a 2022 World Cup event in Changwon and was fourth in the 2023 World Championship. Third place at the 2023 Asian Championship was Anish Bhanwala (India) where he also finished at the 2023 World Cup Final. Keith Sanderson (United States) won a World Cup Final but that was back in 2017 and his form since hasn’t inspired. Florian Peter (Germany) was the bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championship. Ghulam Mustafa Bashir (Pakistan) also has a bronze medal, from 2022. Nikita Chiryukin (Kazakhstan) has had strong recent form winning in Jakarta in 2023 and was a bronze medalist at the 2023 Asian Games. Martin Podhrasky (Czech Republic) won bronze at the 2023 European Games whilst teammate Matej Rampula (Czech Republic) came second at the 2023 World Cup event in Lima and was fourth at the World Cup Final. Henry Leverett (United States), Ruslan Lunev (Azerbaijan) and Wang Xinjie (China) will also hope to compete.
This feels like a really strong event. All of the Olympic medalists from Tokyo could potentially be back on the podium. Yuehong feels the likeliest but Quiquampoix will surely compete at home. I prefer Bessaguet of the French shooters and think he is a shoo-in to medal here. Reitz is still a contender despite his increasing age. Both of the Koreans have shown really strong form in recent years but I especially like Gun-hyeok. Bhanwala and Peter would be my other most likely contenders.
🥇Clement Bessaguet 🇫🇷
🥈Li Yuehong 🇨🇳
🥉Lee Gun-hyeok 🇰🇷
Men's Trap
Czechia and Croatia have each won two of the last four Olympic titles. Jiri Liptak (Czechia) is the reigning Olympic champion. He won the 2022 European Championship and has won World Cup events, Baku in 2022 and Cairo in 2023. Giovanni Cernogoraz (Croatia) is the current world champion and was the 2012 Olympic champion. Great Britain also has strength in depth. Matthew Coward-Holley (Great Britain) won a bronze medal in Tokyo and won the European champion in 2022. He also won a 2023 World Cup event in Rabat. Nathan Hales (Great Britain) will also compete. He was the World Championship silver medalist in 2022 and won a 2023 World Cup event in Lonato. Oguzhan Tuzun (Turkey) also won a 2023 World Cup event, taking the win in Doha after winning in Nicosia in 2022. Another country with several strong options is Italy. Mauro De Filippis (Italy) was the European Games winner in 2023. He also won the 2019 World Cup Final and a 2024 event in Rabat. Alberto Fernandez (Spain) won in Cairo in 2024 as well as the 2017 World Cup Final. He was the also 2018 World Champion. Marian Kovacocy (Slovakia) came second in the 2023 World Championship whilst in third it was Khaled Al-Mudhaf (Kuwait). The bronze medalist in 2022 was Kun-Pi Yang (Taiwan) . Derrick Mein (United States) was the 2022 world champion before finishing fifth in 2023. Compatriot William Hinton (United States) was the fourth-place finisher in 2023. James Willett(Australia) came fourth back in 2018 but has been strong in World Cup events recently, even winning in Baku in 2024. Qi Yang (China) has also been strong in World Cup events and in 2023 won both the Asian Games and Asian Championships. Rickard Levin-Andersson (Sweden) has a silver from the 2022 European Championship and a bronze in the 2023 European Games. Prithviraj Tondaiman (India) had two World Cup bronze medals from last season.
Cernograz and Liptak have both taken gold at the Olympics and remain just as competitive. Coward-Holley also has a medal, from Tokyo, and is arguably better positioned to compete again. Willett and Ying have strong form over the last 18 months which makes them contenders. De Filippis, Fernandez, Hales and Mein have all shown form over the last few years which shows at their best they are more than capable of competing. I think there will be a new medalist along with two returning medalists.
🥇Giovanni Cernograz 🇭🇷
🥈Mauro De Filippis 🇮🇹
🥉Matthew Coward-Holley 🇬🇧
Men Skeet
Vincent Hancock (United States) has won three of the last four Olympic titles as well as being a five-time world champion and silver medalist in 2022. He could only finish fourth in 2023, the winner was Efthimios Mitas (Greece). He also won the 2023 World Cup event in Almaty. Gabriele Rossetti (Italy) looks the strongest of a strong Italian team. He won the 2023 World Cup events in Doha and Cairo as well as winning the 2021 European Championship. The other contender from Italy is Tammaro Cassandro (Italy). He won the World Cup event in Rabat this season and was a bronze medalist in the 2023 European CHampionship. Jakub Tomecek (Czech Rep) was the 2022 European champion whilst in 2023 it was Charalambos Chalkiadakis (Greece). Jesper Hansen (Denmark) will be looking to improve on his Olympic silver from Tokyo and has consistently performed well over World Cup events, including winning in 2023 in Lonato. Fourth-place finisher at the Olympics, Eetu Kallioinen (Finland) is another consistently stronger performer. He was the silver medalist at the 2023 World Championship. Azmy Mehelba (Egypt) won bronze after winning the 2022 World Championship. Rashid Saleh Al-Athba (Qatar) was the bronze medal winner at the 2022 World Championship before winning the 2023 Asian Championship. Behind him was Kim Min-su (South Korea) who also came second at the 2022 World Cup in Changwon. Federico Gil (Argentina) was second at both the Lima event in 2022 and in Baku in 2024. Sven Korte (Germany) has third places from 2023 and 2024. Marcus Svensson (Sweden) won at the 2023 European Games. Anantjeet Singh Naruka (India), Erik Watndal (Norway) and Peter Juerisson (Estonia) will also hope to compete.
This feels like one of the weaker events. The story will be all about Hancock but I think he is probably on the decline and will find winning gold a step too far here. I still think he is good enough to win a medal. Mehelba looks to be the candidate who has it all to take gold. Mitas is a clear danger as the current world champion. Hansen and Kallioinen both contended at the last Olympics but this time I think Kallioinen looks the likelier to contend. Of the Italians, I think Rossetti is the likeliest to compete.
🥇Azmy Mehelba 🇪🇬
🥈Eetu Kallioinen 🇫🇮
🥉Vincent Hancock 🇺🇸
Women’s 10m Air Rifle
China has five medals in the last three editions. They also have the 1-2 from the last World Championship. Jiayu Han (China) is the world champion and also won at the 2023 World Cup event in Baku. The other Chinese competitor is Huang Yuting (China) who won silver in 2022. She was also the 2023 Asian Games winner and has won World Cup events in 2023 and 2024.
Nina Christen (Switzerland) will be looking to improve on her bronze from the Tokyo Olympics. She won the 2023 European Games and was second in the World Cup event in Cairo. Seonaid McIntosh (Great Britain) beat her in Cairo and also finished second in the 2023 European Championship. Oceanne Muller (France) won the European Championship in 2021 and 2023, finishing second in 2022. She won the 2022 World Cup events in Cairo and Baku, winning bronze in the 2023 European Games. The current European champion is Anna Janssen (Germany) who won the 2024 World Cup event in Cairo. Keum Ji-Hyeon (South Korea) has her own 2024 World Cup win, coming in Baku. Aneta Stankiewicz (Poland) won the 2023 World Cup Final and has been on the podiums in each of the last three years in World Cup events. Elavenil Valarivan (India) won the World Cup Final in 2019 and also a World Cup event in 2023 in Rio. In 2023, Ramita Jindal (India) won medals in both the Asian Championship and Asian Games. Eszter Meszaros (Hungary) has been consistently strong, winning World Cup events in 2021 in Osijek and 2023 in Jakarta. Jeanette Hegg Duestad (Norway) is another looking to improve on her past Olympic results, having finished fourth in Tokyo. Mary Tucker (United States) came sixth in Tokyo. She also has a second in the 2023 World Cup event in Bhopal. She and teammate Sagan Maddalena (United States), who won the 2023 Pan-American Games will be under pressure as they have not picked the 2022 World Champion. Audrey Gogniat (Switzerland), Ban Hyo-jin (South Korea), Julia Ewa Piotrowska (Poland), Rikke Ibsen (Denmark) and Shermineh Chehel Amirani (Iran) are also potential contenders.
This is one of the events where the Chinese have two legit contenders. Despite Han being the world champion, I prefer the claims of Yiting but both can medal. I think Eun-ji is the most dangerous of the rest of the Asian contingent. Christen is an Olympic medalist but I cannot see her repeating here. The final medal for me comes down to Janssen and Muller. Muller with her home crowd and consistency should be able to finish on the podium.
🥇Huang Yuting 🇨🇳
🥈Oceane Muller 🇫🇷
🥉Jiayu Han 🇨🇳
Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions
Nina Christen (Switzerland) is the reigning Olympic champion. She was fourth in the 2023 World Championship and also won the 2023 World Cup event in Cairo. The current world champion is Qiongyue Zhang (China) after also winning the 2023 World Cup event in Bhopal. The runner-up from the World Championship is also Chinese in Jiayu Han (China). The bronze medalist was Sagen Maddalena (United States) improving on her fourth place in 2022. Jenny Stene (Norway) won silver at the 2022 World Championship. She also won the 2023 European Games ahead of Natalia Kochanska (Poland). Mary Tucker (United States) is the 2023 Pan-American Games winner. The Asian Games was won by Sift Kaur Samra (India) who has recorded podiums in World Cup events in both of the last two years. Compatriot Anjum Moudgil (India) had two podiums in 2022 and came sixth at the 2022 World Championship. Lee Eun-Seo (South Korea) was the 2023 Asian Champion and has been in the final stages of the last two World Championships. At the Asian Championship, she finished ahead of Arina Altukhova (Kazakhstan) who won a 2023 World Cup event in Jakarta. Seonaid McIntosh (Great Brtiain) also won in 2023, in Baku and has won three World Cup events already this season. Jeanette Hegg Duestad (Norway) won two in 2022 and two in 2023, including the World Cup Final. She was fourth placed finisher at the Tokyo Olympics and won bronze at the 2023 World Championships. Rikke Ibsen (Denmark) won the 2022 World Cup event in Baku. Anna Janssen (Germany) also won in 2022 in Changwon. She also had a bronze in 2024 in Baku.
This comes down to Duestad and McIntosh. McIntosh is maybe the form shooter of 2024 in any discipline whilst Duestad has been so consistently strong over the last few years. Zhang is another possible contender but does not have the 2024 form. Stene has a lot of major championship form and will expect to reach the final. Christen is the only returning medalist and showed herself to be in strong from last year. Maddalena has also impressed since Tokyo and would be considered a contender. Jannsen is the stronger of the German contenders and I feel she can compete along with Altukhova and Han.
🥇Jeanette Hegg Duestad 🇳🇴
🥈Seonaid McIntosh 🇬🇧
🥉Qiongyue Zhang 🇨🇳
Women’s 10m Air Pistol
China has won a medal at every Olympics since 2004 in this event. They also have the last two world champions. Jiang Ranxin (China) was the champion in 2023 after winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. She also won the 2023 World Cup event in Lima. Lu Kaiman was the 2022 world champion but it’s actually Li Xue (China) who will be the second competitor. She improved from fourth at the 2022 World Championship to win bronze in 2023 and win the World Cup event in Bhopal in 2023. Veronika Major (Hungary) also won a 2023 World Cup event in Cairo. Anna Korakaki (Greece) won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics before finishing sixth in Tokyo. She was the 2018 world champion and finished second at the last two World Championships. She also won a 2022 World Cup event in Cairo, Baku in 2023 and was the 2023 European champion. Olena Kostevych (Ukraine) was the 2022 European champion and has also competed strongly in World Cup events. Camille Jedrzejewski (France) was in strong form in 2023, finishing second in the European Championship and European Games. Elmira Karapetyan (Armenia) was behind her in third at the 2023 European Championship but did win a World Cup event in Rio. Oh Ye-Jin (South Korea) won in Jakarta and was also the 2023 Asian Champion. Anna Dulce (Moldova) won the 2024 European Championship ahead of Simal Yilmaz (Turkey). Another former world champion is Zorana Arunovic (Serbia) after she took the title in 2010. She was second in 2018 and won bronze in 2022 as well as winning World Cup events in Rio and Changwon. Manu Bhaker (India) won the World Cup Final back in 2019 whilst compatriot Rhythm Sangwan (India) was on the podium of the 2023 World Cup event in Baku whilst Kim Ye-ji (South Korea) came second in 2024. Other potential contenders include Doreen Vennekamp (Germany), Irina Yunusmetova (Kazakhstan), Lin Heng-yu (Taiwan), Sylvia Steiner (Austria) and Thu Vinh Trinh (Vietnam).
Both of the Chinese competitors have obvious claims and given their record, you have to assume at least one will medal. Of the pair, I think Ranxin is the likelier. Korakai has Olympic experience from Tokyo and has been so consistently strong in recent years that she is a major contender. Arunovic has also been strong but perhaps her best year was 2022. Both Karapetyan and Ye-Jin were strong in 2023 but I think it’d be a surprise if either medalled.
🥇Anna Korakaki 🇬🇷
🥈Jiang Ranxin 🇨🇳
🥉Zorana Arunovic 🇷🇸
Women’s 25m Pistol
The current world champion is Doreen Vennekamp (Germany) after winning bronze in 2018 and 2022. She also impressed in World Cup events in 2023, finishing on every podium spot at least once. Antoaneta Kostadinova (Bulgaria) was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Championships. She was also the silver medalist at the 2023 European Games. Mathilde Lamolle (France) was a European champion back in 2021 but also won a 2022 World Cup event in Cairo. Alejandra Zavala (Mexico) won at the 2023 Pan-American Games ahead of Diana Durango (Ecuador). Anna Korakaki (Greece) won the 2023 European Games. Agate Rasmane (Lativa) won bronze at the 2023 World Championship. She was ahead of Haniyeh Rostamiyan (Iran) had finished in 2022. She also was the silver medalist at the 2023 World Cup event in Baku and the Asian Championship. Zhao Nan (China) was third at the Asian Championship and also the World Cup Final. Veronika Major (Hungary) came fourth. She had had lots of success at the World Cup events, winning two events in 2019 and 2023. Kim Ye-ji (South Korea) won in Baku earlier in the year and finished third in Munich. Camile Jedrzejewski (France) won in 2022 in Rio and took the Munich event earlier this year. Sylvia Steiner (Austria) won in 2023 in Jakarta. Teh Xiu Hong (Singapore) finished behind her in second and also won in 2022 in Changwon. Esha Singh (India) was runner-up at the 2023 Asian Games. Compatriot Manu Bhaker (India) won bronze in Bhopal in 2023. Tien Chia-Chen (Taiwan) has no form on the World Cup circuit to speak of. She finished fourth at the 2018 World Championship and was eighth at the Tokyo Olympics.
This feels like one of the weaker events on the list. The Chinese contingent led by Nan isn’t particularly impressive compared to other events. Kostadinova and Veenkamp both competed impressively at the last Olympics and feel positioned to medal. I think Veenkamp is marginally the stronger. Lamolle has the home advantage but the threats include Jang-mi, Major and Steiner.
🥇Doreen Veenkamp 🇩🇪
🥈Antoaneta Kostadinova 🇧🇬
🥉Veronika Major 🇭🇺
Women’s Trap
The reigning Olympic champion is Zuzana Rehak-Stefecekova (Slovakia). She also has silver medals from 2008 and 2012 whilst being a double world champion. The current world champion is Lin Yi Chun (Taiwan). In 2022 the winner was Carole Cormenier (France). Behind her was Fatima Gálvez (Spain) and she also finished second in World Cup events in Almaty and Lonato in 2033. Compatriot Mar Molne (Spain) has won two World Cup events in 2023 winning in Rabat and Almaty. Lucy Hall (Great Britain) won the 2023 World Cup event in Larnaca and finished second in the 2022 European Championship. She was behind Silvana Stanco (Italy). Teammate Jessica Rossi( Italy) won the 2023 European Games and also took silver at the 2023 World Championship. Catherine Skinner (Australia) was fourth place finisher at the 2022 World Championship. Teammate Penny Smith (Australia) won a 2023 World Cup event in Doha. Alessandra Perilli (San Marino) made history when winning bronze in Tokyo. Maria Coelho De Barros (Portugal) won in Cairo and was also the 2023 European Champion. Zhang Xinqui (China) won the 2023 Asian Games ahead of compatriot Wu Cuicui (China). Cuicui also won a 2022 World Cup event in Changwon and was fourth at the 2023 World Championship. Ahead of her was Kathrin Murche (Germany) with Rajeshwari Kumari (India) in fifth. Ray Bassil (Lebanon) won a World Cup event earlier in the year, in Baku and was the 2023 Asian champion. Mariya Dmitriyenko (Kazakhstan) also won earlier in the year, taking gold in Cairo.
This feels like an open event. Out of the returning Olympic medalists, I prefer Rehak-Stefecekova to repeat. Cuicui has had great results in recent years and I prefer her to teammate Xinqui who beat her at the World Championship. Italy are always strong and I slightly edge to Rossi over Stanco. Gálvez has shown great form in the last few years whilst Bassil and De Barros have pulled it out of the bag in big tournaments.
🥇Jessica Rossi 🇮🇹
🥈Wu Cuicui 🇨🇳
🥉Fatima Gálvez 🇪🇸
Women’s Skeet
United States have won medals at the last four Olympics and they have several contenders who could have been competing in Paris. Dania Jo Vizzi (United States) will likely be the most favoured of the American pair. She came second at the 2023 World Championship and won a 2023 World Cup event in Lonato. The other competitor is Austen Smith (United States). She won a World Cup event in 2021 in Lonato and 2024 in Baku. Diana Bacosi (Italy) is an Olympic medalist. She won gold in 2016, but could only win silver in Tokyo. Bacosi is also a double world champion, taking gold in 2018 and 2022. The second Italian spot will be taken by Martina Bartolomei (Italy) who won at the 2023 European Games. Yiting Jiang (China) placed twice in 2023 World Cup events, winning the Cairo event. Compatriot Wei Meng (China) is the reigning Olympic bronze medalist. She won the 2019 World Cup Final and also the 2023 Asian Championship. The current world champion is Danka Bartekova (Slovakia) and she also won a 2023 World Cup event in Larnaca. She could only finish third at the 2022 European Championship. In second was Nadine Messerschmidt (Germany). Another competitor who has consistently performed well in World Cup events over the last few years. Amber Rutter (Great Britain) was the winner of the European title and also won silver in the 2022 World Championship. Emmanouela Katzouraki (Greece) was the bronze medalist in 2023 and also finished second in the 2023 European Games. Francisca Crovetto Chadid (Chile) won the 2023 Pan-American Games ahead of Gabriela Rodriguez (Mexico). Lucie Anastassiou (France) is the French representative and won two World Cup events in 2022. Assem Orynbay (Kazakhstan) won in 2023 in Almaty, before winning the World Cup Final. Other contenders include Konstantia Nikolaou (Cyprus) and Vanesa Hockova (Slovakia).
Bacosi will be looking to complete the Olympic set of medals here and although she is always a danger, I don’t think she will medal here. Vizzi is the more dangerous of the Italians whilst I prefer Meng of the Chinese pair. Rutter has been really consistent in recent years and I think she will be able to medal. Orynbay and Bartekova were especially strong in 2023, whilst Anastassiou is another contender, especially at home.
🥇Dania Jo Vizzi 🇺🇸
🥈Danka Bartekova 🇸🇰
🥉Amber Rutter 🇬🇧
Mixed 10m Air Rifle Team
China will enter this as favourites as the reigning Olympic and double world champions. The strength in depth they have in the event probably means even a third team would be favourites. They have two teams that will be competing. The United States won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and also won at the 2023 Pan-American Games. France are former World Championship medalist, finishing third in 2023. They also won the 2021 European Championship and won silver in 2024. The winners in 2024 were Germany and they also won World Cup events both this year and last. Switzerland won bronze in the 2022 European Championship. Kazakhstan made the semi-finals in 2023 at both the Asian Games and Asian Championships. India finished second at the Asian Championship. They also have World Cup gold medals in 2021, 2022 and 2023 after winning three events in 2019. Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czechia, Egypt and Poland are the other competitors.
As referenced China are so much stronger and they have two teams here that should conceivably meet in the final. Behind them the battle for the medals is interesting. India has the next best combination in my opinion and the form also suggests they perform well as a team. I think the final medal comes down to France, Germany and the United States. At home, I think France edge the bronze.
🥇China 🇨🇳
🥈India 🇮🇳
🥉France 🇫🇷
Mixed 10m Air Pistol Team
Again China are probably the favourites. They have a strong list of competitors and are the reigning champions. In the World Championship, they have been less successful though, winning silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022 and 2023. Serbia were fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and will be hoping to improve on that here. They won the 2023 European Championship after finishing third the year before and have consistently finished on the World Cup podium. The 2022 European champions were Germany. Turkey were runners up at the 2023 World Championship. It was South Korea who came second in 2022. They also won bronze at both Asian continental championships and have medalled at World Cup events. Bulgaria were second in Granada earlier this year and have won medals in recent years at the European tournaments. France won bronze at the 2023 European Championship. Ukraine won bronze at the last Olympics. They were also the 2024 European champions.
It is hard to see China beaten generally in team events although Serbia have a strong chance here. The team has two very strong individuals and I think they cause a minor shock. Behind the top two, it feels competitive. Most of the teams have two strong competitors. Ultimately I think it comes down to South Korea or Ukraine. Ukraine has a strong pedigree here and I edge to them.
🥇Serbia 🇷🇸
🥈China 🇨🇳
🥉Ukraine 🇺🇦
Mixed Skeet Team
At the last Olympics they did a mixed trap team, this time it will be Skeet. United States will be favourites as the reigning world champions. They also won World Cup events in 2023 at Rabat, Doha and Lonato and will compete with two teams. The other team who has a strong history in this discipline is Italy. They arguably have more strength in depth. They won the 2023 European Games. They reached the final four on seven occasions in the 2022 World Cup, winning twice and won once in 2023. France won bronze in 2022 before finishing fifth in 2023. Germany won a World Cup event earlier in the year in Larnaca. The 2021 European champions were Sweden and they lost in the semi final the year after. Peru are a dark horse having finished fourth in the 2023 World Championship. Greece and South Korea will also compete.
United States deserve to be favourites here. They have the strongest team and have consistently done well in this event. Italy have the second most well rounded team and I think they can win silver. Behind them it is open with France, Greece and Germany all have one clearly stronger athlete. I think at home, France can do enough to take bronze.
🥇United States 🇺🇸
🥈Italy 🇮🇹
🥉France 🇫🇷
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