10M AIR RIFLE MEN
China’s Sheng Lihao, who created Olympic history in Tokyo three years ago by becoming the youngest shooting sport medallist – he earned 10m air rifle silver aged 16 years 233 days – looks on for further landmark achievements at the Games.
Sheng (pictured), now 19, won the last two ISSF World Cups of the season, at Baku and Munich, regaining the world record in the latter event with a score of 254.5.
That was 1.2 points more than the world record he had set at the previous year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou. His first record had been bettered at the opening ISSF World Cup of the season in Cairo, where India's 21-year-old Divyansh Panwar raised the mark to 253.7.
Despite that achievement Panwar has not been not chosen for the Indian team in Paris – and neither has the athlete who took bronze at the Asian Championships in January, Rudrankksh Patel.
If India can afford to leave out two athletes of such quality then much will be expected of the pair who will make the trip to the French capital – Arjun Babuta, who finished second behind Sheng in qualifying at Munich but did not proceed to the final as he was competing for ranking points only, and Sandeep Singh.
China’s prospects meanwhile are strengthened by the presence of 21-year-old Du Linshu, who took silver behind Sheng in Munich and who has been chosen for both rifle disciplines in Paris.
Other athletes with strong medal chances are the current top three in the world rankings, respectively Austria’s Martin Strempfl, bronze medallist at the European Championships and Munich World Cup, European silver medallist Istvan Peni of Hungary and Slovakia’s European champion and Munich silver medallist Patrik Jany.
Watch out also for another eyebrow-raising performance from Sweden’s Victor Lindgren, who earned a surprise gold at last year’s World Championships in Baku at the age of 20 ahead of China’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Haoran Yang, who failed to earn a Paris 2024 place at the Chinese trials in March.
Hungary’s Zalan Pekler also put himself into contention with his dramatic victory in the World Cup Final over another competitor to be reckoned with in Paris, Serbia’s Lazar Kovacevic, who won the Final Olympic Qualifier in Rio de Janeiro.
Former 50m rifle 3 positions world record holder Jiri Privratsky of Czechia, the World Cup Final bronze medallist and Granada World Cup winner, is another strong chances in this event.
Same goes for two other notable performers in both rifle disciplines – Norway’s Jon-Hermann Hegg, second in Rio, and Republic of Korea’s Park Hajun.
Look out too for a strong Italian challenge thanks to Danilo Solazzo and Edoardo Bonazzi, both World Cup medallists this season.
2024 results
Asia Olympic Qualification/Champs Rifle/Pistol – Jakarta Jan
Sihan Ma (CH), Daehan Choe (KOR), Rudrankksh Patel (IND)
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Cairo Jan-Feb
Divyansh Panwar (IND), Danilo Solazzo (ITA) Lazar Kovacevic SRB)
ISSF World Cup 10m Rifle/Pistol Granada Feb
Jiri Privratsky (CZE), Istvan Peni (HUN), Edoardo Bonazzi (ITA)
European Championships 10m Rifle/Pistol Gyor Feb-March
Patrik Jany (SVK), Istvan Peni (Hun), Martin Strempfl (AUT)
Olympic Qualification CAT XIV Rifle/Pistol Buenos Aires March-April
Marcello Gutierrez (ARG), Edson Ramirez Ramos (MEX), Timothy Sherry (USA)
ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship Rifle/Pistol Rio de Janeiro April
Lazar Kovacevic (SRB), Jon-Hermann Hegg (NOR), Edoardo Bonazzi (ITA)
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Baku May
Sheng Lihao (CH), Du Linshu (CH), Park Hjun (KOR)
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Munich May-June
Sheng Lijao (CH), Patrik Jany (SVK), Martin Strempfl (AUT)