The world’s best Paralympic shooters will go into battle for places at the Rio 2016 Games on Saturday (July 19) at the IPC Shooting World Championships in Germany. With five goalball and four sitting volleyball teams having qualified in recent weeks, shooting will be the first individual sport to confirm spots at the first Paralympic Games in South America.

Throughout 2014, athletes from at least 10 Olympic sports and 12 Paralympic sports will earn qualification places for the greatest sporting event on the planet.

After the opening ceremony in the city of Suhl on Friday, 265 shooting athletes from 53 countries will start competing for 63 places on Saturday. Spots will be reserved for the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) of the highest-placing athletes. The NPCs, together with their respective National Federations decide if they will use their earned quota and which athletes to send.

Athens 2004 gold medal winner Minna Leinonen, 32, hopes to secure a berth at her fourth consecutive Paralympic Games by earning a place on the podium in Germany in the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2.

“My target is to win a medal there (in Rio),” she told the IPC website. “That's one of my biggest dreams and I believe in my chances. Competing at the world championships is important to me. It's a great opportunity to compare your level with others as most of us are aiming at Rio.”

Britain’s Matt Skelhon, who won gold at Beijing 2008 in the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1, will also compete in the mixed 50m rifle SH1, for which he holds the world record.

“I’ve definitely got the skills I need to win both of them,” he said. “That’s my main goal, to go there and win the 10m and the 50m. I’m just going to go and do my best and see what I come away with, but I know I’ve got what it takes.”

An athlete in training for the world championships at the Suhl shooting gallery (Photo: IPC)

The world championships will be the main route to Rio for shooters. Of the 150 slots up for grabs, 63 will be determined in Germany between 19 and 26 July. Three stages of the 2015 Shooting World Cup, which will offer 27 slots each, plus six invitations, complete the quota.

As the host nation, Brazil has three guaranteed places at Rio 2016 (two for men and one for women) but can earn more slots through the qualifying events.

The places are distributed as follows: men’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 (4 slots), women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 (2), mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 (4 men, 2 women), mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 (6 men, 3 women), mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2 (6 men, 3 women), mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 (6 men, 3 women), men’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 (4), women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 (2), men’s 10m air pistol SH1 (6), women’s 10m air pistol SH1 (3), mixed 25m pistol SH1 (4 men, 2 women), mixed 50m pistol SH1 (4 men, 2 women).

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