SKEET MIXED TEAM
Vincent Hancock and Kimberly Rhode, with nine individual Olympic titles between them, equalled the world record of 149 as they won the skeet mixed team event - which makes its Olympic debut in Paris - at the Lonato World Cup in June.
However, with Rhode not securing a place on the US team despite winning at the second part of the trials Hancock, who will be seeking a fourth individual title, will be teamed with the 22-year-old with whom he won the world title last year, Austen Smith.
Smith may not have the Olympic experience of her partner - who scored 25 out of 25 in the world record performance in Rabat - but she has already competed in the Games as the youngest member of the US team at Tokyo 2020.
Hancock and Smith laid down another huge marker in the concluding World Cup of the season as they earned gold in Lonato (pictured).
Neither of the other medal-winning pairs at last year’s World Championships in Baku will compete in Paris. While Ukraine’s silver medal-winning Iryna Malovichko and Britain’s bronze medal-winning Amber Rutter will take part in the skeet women, their respective partners – Mikola Milchev and Ben Llewellin - have not been selected.
But the Americans will face strong opposition from home pairing Eric Delaunay and Lucie Anastassiou, who earned silver at the Cairo World Cup and then won the European title.
A further strong challenge may be represented by the Greek pair who took European silver - individual world champion Efthimios Mitas and Emmanouela Katzouraki.
Asia Olympic Qualification,Champs Shotgun – Kuwait City Jan
China - Wu Yunxuan, Jing Yiting
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Cairo Jan-Feb
Qatar - Rashid Al-Athba, Reem Al Sharshani bt France - Eric Delaunay, Lucie Anastassiou
ISSF World Cup Shotgun Rabat Feb
United States - Vincent Hancock, Kimberly Rhode
Olympic Qualification CAT XIV Shotgun Champs Santo Domingo Feb-March
United States - Phillip Jungman, Julia Nelson
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Baku May
Chile – Hector Flores Barahona, Francisca Crovetto Chadid bt United States - Dustan Taylor, Dania Jo Vizzi
European Championships Shotgun Lonato May
France – Eric Delaunay and Lucie Anastassiou bt Greece – Efthimios Mitas, Emmanouela Katzouraki
ISSF World Cup Shotgun Lonato June
United States - Vincent Hancock, Austen Smith bt Kuwait - Abdullah Alrashidi, Eman Al Shamaa