Finland and China win two places each in Rio 2016 Olympic Games shooting competition
Eight nations claim 10 places on offer at latest stage of ISSF Shotgun World Cup, in Cyprus
Good Finnishing: Beijing 2008 champion Satu Makela-Nummela of Finland won the women’s trap (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Another 10 places in the shooting competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were won during the latest stage of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup, which came to end on Sunday (3 May) in Larnaca, Cyprus (as published by ISSF). With 129 of its 390 spots now accounted for, shooting is the sport that has confirmed the most qualification places for the Rio 2016 games so far.
Finland and China each earned two Rio 2016 berths during the five days of competition in Cyprus, while the United Arab Emirates, Guatemala, Russia, Sweden, Thailand and Turkey all won one place each.
The places will be allocated to the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the winning athletes. The NOCs will then decide, along with their national shooting federations, if they will take up their quota and which athletes to send to the Games. Each country can have up to two representatives in each event, and each athlete can only win one place for their NOC.
Finland’s Satu Makela-Nummela won the women’s trap event ahead of Russia’s Tatiana Barsuk, with both athletes earning spots at the Olympic Games. “Winning a place at Rio 2016 was the goal and now I can shoot without pressure, compete with a clear mind,” said Beijing 2008 Olympic champion Makela-Nummela, before joking that she should now take a samba dancing course.
The women’s skeet event was won by Diana Bacosi, but as the Italian and third-placed Morgan Craft of the USA had already secured Rio 2016 places, the two Olympic berths went to second-placed Yu Xiumin of China and Thailand’s Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit, who finished fourth.
A similar situation occurred in the men’s double trap, with winner Antonino Barillà having already earned a Rio 2016 spot. The two Olympic Games were thus taken by Guatemala’s Enrique Brol and China’s Pan Qiang.
It was the same story in the men’s trap, with Turkey’s Yavuz Ilnam and Finalnd’s Vesa Tornroos, who finished second and fourth respectively, grabbing the Olympic spots. Winner David Kostelecky, of the Czech Republic, and third-placed Josip Glasnovic, of Croatia, had already won places in Rio in March’s world cup event in Al Ain.
Saif Bin Futtais won a Rio 2016 place for the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Nicolo Zangirolami/ISSF)
The men’s skeet was more straight forward, with the gold and silver medallists – Saif Bin Futtais, of the United Arab Emirates, and Sweden’s Marcus Svensson – bagging the Rio slots. “The highlight is the Rio 2016 Olympic place,” said Bin Futtais. “This is very important for me and my country. I’m not guaranteed a spot in the Olympic team, as we have a national selection, but at least we have a quota now.”
Larnaca was the third shotgun qualification event of the year, following the Al Ain and Acapulco world cup stages, which awarded 10 Rio 2016 places each, while the Changwon stage of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup awarded 24 Olympic Games places. A further 75 spots were confirmed last year: 64 at the world championships and 11 at the Americas Shooting Championships.
Another 10 events in 2015 will offer 216 more Olympic Games places. Of the remaining slots, 12 will be determined in 2016, nine are allocated to host country Brazil and 24 will be distributed through invitations.
For the full results from Larnaca, click here.
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.
