Another 24 places in the shooting events at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games have been allocated as the sixth stage of the ISSF World Cup came to an end on Monday (1 June) in Munich, as confirmed by the International Federation. After six days of competition in southern Germany, China finished on top of the medal table and were one of 10 nations that earned two slots at next year’s Olympic Games.

The Munich World Cup stage was the third of the year for rifle and pistol events, and featured 901 athletes from 87 countries competing in 10 Olympic events.  

Russia’s veteran Olympian Yuliya Alipova earned her nation another spot in Rio by taking bronze in the 25m pistol event. The athlete, who competed at the Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games, said: “My husband is a shooter too (shotgun competitor Alexey Alipov) and it’s very hard to manage both of our schedules, especially because we have two children. But if we both end up being selected, it will be our fourth Games together.”

Among the highlights in the men’s events was the victory of 20-year-old German Andre Link, who took gold in the 50m rifle three positions. “Winning gold in Munich means a lot to me,” he said. “There's a lot more pressure here, everyone is watching me, I feel really proud. I took part in several junior finals in recent years, so I am kind of used to it, but I didn’t expect to win. This is probably the best I have ever shot.”

Of the 390 shooting places up for grabs at next year’s Olympic Games, 177 have now been won. The slots 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.

The Munich World Cup stage was the eighth shooting event offering places at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, following the Changwon and Fort Benning stages of the Rifle and Pistol World Cup, and the Acapulco, Al Ain and Larnaca stages of the Shotgun World Cup, all this year. In 2014, the world championships and the Shooting Championship of the Americas also provided Rio 2016 slots.

The next event to offer shooting places at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be the first edition of the European Games, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in June. There will be a further seven qualifying events in 2015 and of the remaining slots, 12 will be determined in 2016, nine are allocated to host country Brazil and 24 will be distributed through invitations.

Rio 2016 qualifiers from the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup stage in Munich:

Men’s 10m air rifle: Ukraine, India, Serbia

Men’s 50m rifle prone: France, Austria

Men’s 50m rifle three positions: Germany, France

Men’s 10m air pistol: China, India, Republic of Korea

Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol: USA, Russia

Men’s 50m pistol: Japan, Italy

Women’s 10m air rifle: Croatia, Austria, Germany

Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Republic of Korea, Ukraine

Women’s 10m air pistol: Serbia, China, USA

Women’s 25m pistol: Thailand, 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.