Published on 28 Jul 2008
THE NAMES OF THE GAMES: THE ENTRY LISTS DISCOVERED
Marco Dalla Dea
Shooters from 100 nations will participate at the world's greatest sporting festival this August as they compete in 15 shooting events at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. <br> The confirmation of 100 national Olympic committees has been received by the International Shooting Sport Federation, along with the final entry lists detailing the athletes who will compete across the fifteen events of the Olympic Shooting Competition. Participating in the Olympics is the dream of a lifetime for many athletes, but to qualify for these Games of Beijing has not been easy. Over 7500 athletes coming from 121 shooting federations shared the dream of an Olympic start in the last four years, challenging, suffering and rejoicing in twenty qualification competitions that were set over the five continents to secure an Olympic Quota Place for their nations. Only the best of them made it, entering the list of those Olympic shooters that will fight for glory on the fields of Beijing.
390 athletes coming from 100 different countries will compete at the Olympic shooting venue of Beijing, aiming at the most important sport-title. Entries range from multiple medallists looking to expand their entry in Olympic shooting history to new faces aiming to demonstrate their talent on the world's greatest sporting festival. Fourteen of the Gold medal winners of the 2004 Games of Athens are going to take part in this edition of the Games, facing new and holder competitors to defend their titles. The Rapid Fire Pistol master Ralf SCHUMANN will guide the title defenders of Athens 2004: the 45-year old German shooter is running for his fourth Olympic Gold medal in the pistol discipline that made him famous “I have been changing after the Games of Athens 2004 – SCHUMANN said – I have a different mind now, I have been trying to go back to the roots of shooting, and I found a strong belief in Jesus.” Beside him, the 35-year old Bulgarian athlete Maria GROZDEVA will try to write her name in the history of the ISSF, winning her third, consecutive, Gold in the 25m Pistol Women Event, after the podiums she has conquered in Sydney and Athens.
Rifle events always reserves to the shooting fans great shows, and looking at the list of participants we would not expect any different. The American Champion Matthew EMMONS is both in the list of the title defender and of the title pretender. He is hoping to confirm his Gold in the 50m Rifle Prone Men Event, but he will have to fight hard against the Belarusian champion Sergei MARTYNOV, and the skilled number one in the World, the Australian Warren POTENT. At the same time EMMONS looks with interest at the 50m Rifle Three Positions competition, where he will find on his way the Russian masters Artem KHADJIBEKOV and Sergei KOVALENKO, two of the most expert rifle shooter of the World.
Duels and breathtaking fights will involve also women Olympians. The home athlete Li DU, current Olympic Champion in the 10m Air Rifle Women Event, has a leadership position in the world ranking, but this could be not enough to be reconfirmed. Her team-mate Yinghui ZHAO is ready to catch her, and two Europeans are also enlisted between the favourites for the title: Katerina EMMONS of Czech Republic and Sonja PFEILSCHIFTER of Germany have beaten Li DU more then once during the 2008 World Cup season. What is going to happen in Beijing, where minds and hearts will make the difference?
Shotgun will follow the Rifle in the Games program, and in shotgun we will probably follow some of the most exciting battles for the podium placements. The Skeet Men title defender, the 48 year old Italian shooter Andrea BENELLI, closed the 2008 World Cup season on the podium, winning a Silver medal, but it will not easy to save his title from the terrific determination of his younger opponents “This is going to be my last Olympiad, but this doesn’t mean I am going to give up!” said the Italian champion. Vincent HANCOCK, the 19-year old phenomenon from the USA, is ready to take the crown off the king BENELLI: he has been the first to set the outstanding record of 150 clays out of 150, and is said to be the fasted shooter of the international scene. At the same time, the 27-year old Cypriot Georgios ACHILLEOS, the current number one in the World Rank in the Skeet event, is preparing himself at the best with only one aim: the Olympic Gold.
Two champions came back on the highest placement of the World Ranking, during the last season, announcing their intentions about Beijing. Richard FAULDS of Great Britain, the 2000 Trap Olympic Champion of Sydney, collected three medals and equalled a World Record, this year, testing his nerves for the day he will meet Sheik Ahmed ALMAKTOUM, the current Double Trap Olympic Champion. The two times Trap Olympic Champion Michael DIAMOND of Australia also showed to be in great shape, ready to give hard times to the current Olympic title holder Alexey ALIPOV of the Russian Federation. DIAMOND won the 2007 World Championships of Cyprus and two of the four World Cup Stage during the 2008 season. He only missed the pre-Olympic competition of Beijing, this year, but he is not worried about it “I did not come. I missed the flight. It’s just a shooting range, it cannot be that different from the other ranges I have seen…”
The ladies of the shotgun are also ready to take the Olympic challenge, and it will be interesting to follow the Skeet Women competition, where the home athlete Ning WEI is announced to be one of the favourites along with the Italian Chiara CAINERI. The two shooters crossed the barrels more then once during the last Olympic cycle, and they will have to face determined opponents as Kimberly RHODE, the American shooter that won the 2004 Olympic Gold medal in Double Trap, and that turned to Skeet when her event was discontinued.
Shooting presents fifteen events in the Olympic Program, and it will open the Games with the first competition. The 10m Air Rifle Women Event is scheduled for the ninth of August, the day after the opening ceremony. When only twelve days are missing, the lists of participants are discovered, and available for download on this website. Title defenders, young champions and expert senators are going to play at their best to fulfil every sportsman dream: to rise upon the highest step of an Olympic podium. Who is going to shot that target? While is difficult to make predictions about the Games, the ISSF News Magazine is presenting a “Super 25” Ranking based on statistics, which tries to spot out the statistically favourites, that will be published in the next days.
The 2004 Olympic Champions coming to Beijing to defend their titles:
Lioubov GALKINA (RUS) 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Li DU (CHN) 10m Air Rifle Women
Maria GROZDEVA (BUL) 25m Pistol Women
Olena KOSTEVYCH (UKR) 10m Air Pistol Women
Suzanne BALOGH (AUS) Trap Women
Diana IGALY (HUN) Skeet Women
Zhanbo JIA (CHN) 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
Matthew EMMONS (USA) 50m Rifle Prone Men
Qinan ZHU (CHN) 10m Air Rifle Men
Mikhail NESTRUEV (RUS) 50m Pistol Men
Ralf SCHUMANN (GER) 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
Alexey ALIPOV (RUS) Trap Men
Andrea BENELLI (ITA) Skeet Men
Ahmed ALMAKTOUM (UAE) Double Trap Men
Entry List by NOC
Entry List by Event
Rifle events always reserves to the shooting fans great shows, and looking at the list of participants we would not expect any different. The American Champion Matthew EMMONS is both in the list of the title defender and of the title pretender. He is hoping to confirm his Gold in the 50m Rifle Prone Men Event, but he will have to fight hard against the Belarusian champion Sergei MARTYNOV, and the skilled number one in the World, the Australian Warren POTENT. At the same time EMMONS looks with interest at the 50m Rifle Three Positions competition, where he will find on his way the Russian masters Artem KHADJIBEKOV and Sergei KOVALENKO, two of the most expert rifle shooter of the World.
Duels and breathtaking fights will involve also women Olympians. The home athlete Li DU, current Olympic Champion in the 10m Air Rifle Women Event, has a leadership position in the world ranking, but this could be not enough to be reconfirmed. Her team-mate Yinghui ZHAO is ready to catch her, and two Europeans are also enlisted between the favourites for the title: Katerina EMMONS of Czech Republic and Sonja PFEILSCHIFTER of Germany have beaten Li DU more then once during the 2008 World Cup season. What is going to happen in Beijing, where minds and hearts will make the difference?
Shotgun will follow the Rifle in the Games program, and in shotgun we will probably follow some of the most exciting battles for the podium placements. The Skeet Men title defender, the 48 year old Italian shooter Andrea BENELLI, closed the 2008 World Cup season on the podium, winning a Silver medal, but it will not easy to save his title from the terrific determination of his younger opponents “This is going to be my last Olympiad, but this doesn’t mean I am going to give up!” said the Italian champion. Vincent HANCOCK, the 19-year old phenomenon from the USA, is ready to take the crown off the king BENELLI: he has been the first to set the outstanding record of 150 clays out of 150, and is said to be the fasted shooter of the international scene. At the same time, the 27-year old Cypriot Georgios ACHILLEOS, the current number one in the World Rank in the Skeet event, is preparing himself at the best with only one aim: the Olympic Gold.
Two champions came back on the highest placement of the World Ranking, during the last season, announcing their intentions about Beijing. Richard FAULDS of Great Britain, the 2000 Trap Olympic Champion of Sydney, collected three medals and equalled a World Record, this year, testing his nerves for the day he will meet Sheik Ahmed ALMAKTOUM, the current Double Trap Olympic Champion. The two times Trap Olympic Champion Michael DIAMOND of Australia also showed to be in great shape, ready to give hard times to the current Olympic title holder Alexey ALIPOV of the Russian Federation. DIAMOND won the 2007 World Championships of Cyprus and two of the four World Cup Stage during the 2008 season. He only missed the pre-Olympic competition of Beijing, this year, but he is not worried about it “I did not come. I missed the flight. It’s just a shooting range, it cannot be that different from the other ranges I have seen…”
The ladies of the shotgun are also ready to take the Olympic challenge, and it will be interesting to follow the Skeet Women competition, where the home athlete Ning WEI is announced to be one of the favourites along with the Italian Chiara CAINERI. The two shooters crossed the barrels more then once during the last Olympic cycle, and they will have to face determined opponents as Kimberly RHODE, the American shooter that won the 2004 Olympic Gold medal in Double Trap, and that turned to Skeet when her event was discontinued.
Shooting presents fifteen events in the Olympic Program, and it will open the Games with the first competition. The 10m Air Rifle Women Event is scheduled for the ninth of August, the day after the opening ceremony. When only twelve days are missing, the lists of participants are discovered, and available for download on this website. Title defenders, young champions and expert senators are going to play at their best to fulfil every sportsman dream: to rise upon the highest step of an Olympic podium. Who is going to shot that target? While is difficult to make predictions about the Games, the ISSF News Magazine is presenting a “Super 25” Ranking based on statistics, which tries to spot out the statistically favourites, that will be published in the next days.
The 2004 Olympic Champions coming to Beijing to defend their titles:
Lioubov GALKINA (RUS) 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Li DU (CHN) 10m Air Rifle Women
Maria GROZDEVA (BUL) 25m Pistol Women
Olena KOSTEVYCH (UKR) 10m Air Pistol Women
Suzanne BALOGH (AUS) Trap Women
Diana IGALY (HUN) Skeet Women
Zhanbo JIA (CHN) 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
Matthew EMMONS (USA) 50m Rifle Prone Men
Qinan ZHU (CHN) 10m Air Rifle Men
Mikhail NESTRUEV (RUS) 50m Pistol Men
Ralf SCHUMANN (GER) 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
Alexey ALIPOV (RUS) Trap Men
Andrea BENELLI (ITA) Skeet Men
Ahmed ALMAKTOUM (UAE) Double Trap Men
Entry List by NOC
Entry List by Event