Shooting stars in town as largest Rio 2016 test event gets underway in Deodoro Olympic Park
Jessica Rossi, gold medallist in London 2012, and three-time Olympic champion Jin Jong-Oh will be among 700 athletes competing in the Olympic Shooting Centre
Jessica Rossi celebrates winning gold for Italy at the London 2012 Games (Getty Images/Lars Baron)
Hundreds of elite marksmen and markswomen have arrived in Brazil for the largest single test event for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the third stage of the 2016 World Cup Series of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).
The opening ceremony of the event is being held this Friday (15 April). The competition, which will serve to test the facilities and operations of the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro in western Rio, runs until the following Sunday (24 April).
“I am certain that all the future medal winners of Rio 2016 are here at the test event”
Ricardo Brenck, vice-president of the Brazilian sport shooting confederation
Athletes from 88 countries, including around 50 world and Olympic champions, will be competing in the event. Young shooting stars who have come to Rio include 24-year old Italian Jessica Rossi, who won the gold medal for trap shooting in London 2012 with a world record performance. Jin Jong-Oh, the Korean three-time Olympic champion and double world record holder, will be competing in the 10m and 50m air pistol events he has dominated in recent years.
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The week-long test event will put the Olympic Shooting Centre through its paces, in particular the shooting areas, the technology, the systems for results and public address systems, logistics, security and any design issues with the venue.
Gary Anderson, a double gold medallist for the USA in shooting who is in Rio as vice president of the ISSF, said that it is important to test the venue fully in a high-pressure environment that will bring out any potential problems.
Ricardo Brenck, vice president of the Brazilian shooting confederation, which is organising the event said: “The test event is a very important part of the preparation for Rio 2016 as the best shooters in the world will be here. The medal-winners in the Olympic Games will be competing in Deodoro.”
Felipe Wu, Brazilian gold medal winner in the Bangkok stage of the World Cup, will be competing in the air pistol event (Photo: CBTE)
The Rio test event will help determine which competitors return to the city for the Olympic Games in August. There are a total of 390 places for shooters at the Games.
At the Olympic Games, there are currently nine events for men and six for women. The 15 events are divided into three groups: rifle, pistol and shotgun. The rifle and pistol events are held on shooting ranges, with competitors aiming at targets from distances of 10 metres, 25 metres and 50 metres. In the traps and skeet events, competitors shoot with shotguns at clay targets propelled in different directions.
The event will decide which Brazilian athlete takes the ninth and final vacancy on the country's Olympic shooting team. In March this year, the star of the side, 23-year old Felipe Wu, won the 10m gold in the air pistol at the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Bangkok. Wu also won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, has already qualified for the Olympic Games and will be the home side's best chance for a medal in August.
