European Games seals the fate of another 15 Olympic shooting vacancies
Olympic shooting fills it 192nd vacancy; 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto will decide a further 20
After seeing his wife win a Rio 2016 spot for Russia, it was the turn of Alexei Alipov to secure a place for their country (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Shooting – the sport with the most qualifications to date – filled its 192nd Olympic vacancy on Monday (22 June) at the 2015 European Games in Baku. Each of the 15 Olympic shooting events that took place at this year’s European Games yielded one Olympic vacancy. Switzerland, Russia and France won two spots each; while Germany, Belarus, Great Britain, Slovakia, Spain, Israel, San Marino, Sweden and Ukraine took one Olympic slot each in Baku (as published by ISSF).
At the European Games, shooting proved to be something of a family affair. Alexei Alipov – Olympic champion at the Athens 2004 Games – won a Rio 2016 vacancy for Russia in the trap shooting event (a variety of competitive clay pigeon shooting), just weeks after watching his wife Yuliya Alipova earn a spot in the Olympic women's 25m pistol event for their country via the ISSF Shooting World Cup.
With one Olympic gold to his name already, the 39-year-old demonstrated that he has his sights firmly set on the podium at the Rio 2016 Games: "I am very happy to have qualified for the Games. I have competed in the Olympics and got one gold and one bronze – so far," said the European trap shooting champion.
In the women’s category, the family theme once again featured prominently in the trap shooting competition. San Marino’s Arianna Perilli won her country’s first medal of the European Games as well as a chance for San Marino to compete at the Olympics, hot on the heels of her sister, Alessandra, who won a spot in the same event via the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in March.
“I’m really happy and honoured to have won the first European Games medal for my country. I'm more than happy also because finally I managed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. My sister had already qualified for Rio, but I kept missing it and now I have it. It all seems just incredible to me,” said the shooter.
Sisters Alessandra and Arianna Perilli (pictured) both secured shooting spots for San Marino at the Rio 2016 Games (Photo: Matthias Hangst/2016)
Nine qualifying shooting tournaments have already taken place, distributing 192 Olympic vacancies between them – almost half of the total 390 vacancies available. Seventy-two slots were given out over the three stages of the 2015 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, Fort Benning and Munich. At the 2015 ISSF World Cup Series in Acapulco, Al Ain and Larnaca, another 30 slots were distributed. In 2014, the ISSF World Shooting Championship in Granada yielded 64 slots and the CAT Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara gave out 11.
The sport’s next qualifying tournament will be at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, held between 10 and 26 July. In addition, there will be another six qualifying opportunities in 2015 in which 153 vacancies will distributed. After this, of the 45 remaining seats: 12 will be given out in competitions in 2016, nine are destined for the host-country, Brazil, and 24 will be distributed by invitation.
See the countries that have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Baku 2015:
Female
10m air pistol: Belarus
25m pistol: Switzerland
10m air rifle: Switzerland
50m rifle three positions: France
Skeet: Britain
Trap: San Marino
Male
25m rapid fire pistol: Spain
10m air pistol: Ukraine
50m pistol: Slovakia
50m rifle prone: Germany
10m air rifle: Israel
50m rifle three positions: France
Skeet: Sweden
Trap: Russia
Double trap: Russia
Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.
