Explained: Qualification process for Shooting at Paris Olympics

India will be looking to send a strong contingent to the quadrennial event.

Shooting has featured in all the Olympics to date starting from 1896. At present, the sport offers fifteen gold medals across seven events. It is also one of the most watched sports offering multiple medals. In the last edition at Tokyo, India had sent a good strong squad of 15 members but couldn't win any medal. Even after the no-show in Tokyo, Paris Olympics will again have the fans counting on the sport to deliver medals.

We are going to take a look at what are the qualification process and criteria for Paris Olympics 2024:

All about Shooting at Paris Olympics 2024:

In total, 170 men and 170 women will compete in shooting at Paris 2024 Olympics. The total of 340 shooters is slightly less than the 360 shooters that competed at Tokyo 2020. Given below are the qualifying criteria and rules for the qualifying period that has already started from August 14, 2022, till June 9 2024.

1. 10m Air Rifle (Men's Individual/Women's Individual/Mixed Team)
2. 10m Air Pistol (Men's Individual/Women's Individual/Mixed Team)
3. 25m Pistol (Women's Individual)
4. 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Men's Individual)
5. 50m Rifle 3 Positions (Men's Individual/Women's Individual)
6. Trap (Men's Individual/Women's Individual)
7. Skeet (Men's Individual/Women's Individual/Mixed Team)

There has been a slight change in the Shotgun category. In Tokyo, they included the Trap Mixed Team event and in the next edition, it will be the Skeet Mixed Team event. Both Trap and Skeet Mixed Team events will be held in alternate editions if experts are to be believed.

One major change with the qualification method is that in the qualifying period for Tokyo, all the athletes were given quota places in the four World Cups held every year. But for the Paris edition, the quotas will be given only in the continental events (Asian Games/European Games/Pan America etc) and the World Championships.

Tournaments from which India can get quotas

Shot Gun World Championships, Croatia 2022

Rifle and Pistol World Championships 2022, Egypt

Asia Championships 2022, Korea

World Championships Baku, 2024

Asian Shot Gun Championships, 2024

Asia Rifle and Pistol Championships, 2024

Olympic Qualification Championships, 2024

The World Championships in specific give four quota places in a single event. There will be two World Championships in the qualification period. An athlete can win only a single quota per event. For example, if an athlete qualifies in the top 4 in both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships then he/she will be given only one quota and not two.

Also, if a country has already achieved the maximum quotas in an event (two), and if the shooters from that country win the next Olympic qualifying event then the available quota places are passed down to the next eligible shooter from other countries.

This can be a disadvantage to many countries as the qualification tournaments get reduced considerably. From an Indian point of view, World Cups used to bring in many quotas which were quite visible during the qualification period of Tokyo. Now all the major countries will be part of the major events.

No NOC can win two quotas in the same event at a tournament

In the last Olympic qualification cycle 12 quotas were awarded at the World Championships. Whereas in the Paris Olympics qualification cycle the number has come down to ten.

Each country can only win one quota per event in single games. For example, India cannot win more than one quota out of the four in 10m air pistol at a single qualifying event. Of the two, only one quota will be given to the NOC (National Olympic Committee). Now for the NOC to field a maximum shooter per event they have to win it at different events.

Big countries like China and Korea will play a huge role this time. In the last qualifying, Olympic cycle countries like China used to participate in very few events and win their quotas. But since the rules have changed bigger countries now have to play in all the qualifying events to obtain a maximum number.

Quota places available for each country

There is a total of six individual events as mentioned above in stakes at the Paris Olympics for both men and women. In all the six events a country is allowed to enter only two athletes per event. That means a maximum of 24 shooters can qualify from a specific country provided they get all the quotas.

For a NOC to attain a quota the athlete has to qualify for the finals which was not the case before.

For the mixed events, only the shooters who have qualified from their events can participate. The quota places won by athletes in the qualifying period will go to the NOC. So the NOC has the right to send any athlete during the finalization of the squad before the Olympics.

If any of the athletes do not qualify in any of the specified events mentioned above then the athletes will be given a quota based on the rankings if the country fails to achieve the maximum quota limit of two per event. This quota will not be given to the NOC but to the individual athlete.

Reallocation

The host is awarded one quota each in all the events meaning they are given 12 quotas, provided none of the athletes has made it through the qualifying events.

If suppose the host countries have won quotas on their own then these quotas previously were awarded randomly to countries that couldn't send single athletes across events. But for Paris, these reallocation quotas will be purely based on the rankings.

So for smaller countries to send their athletes to Paris, the athletes will have to perform well in World Cups, and Grand Prix which provide good ranking points. The top 10 events in the qualification cycle will be taken into account for the final rankings.

From an Indian point of view, the national federation is not sending athletes to all the major events which can hurt if they do not qualify directly.

If a country has won a quota in 10m Airt Pistol then the second quota can be given through the rankings which was not the case with the Tokyo Olympic qualification cycle. This is a good chance again for smaller countries, let's say also for India, who can enter the maximum number if they cannot obtain the quotas directly. Now the rankings play a vital role in qualifying for the Olympics which the countries need to keep an eye on.