The test event for Olympic shooting in Rio de Janeiro ended in high style on Sunday (April 24), with two world records having been set and another mark equalled.

On Friday (April 22), Croatia’s Snjezana Pejcic scored 594 points in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions women's qualification round, beating the previous record of 592 points. On Sunday, Hui Zicheng of China scored 463.7 points in the final of the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions, an improvement of 1.2 points on the previous mark. Zicheng’s performance pushed the USA’s Matthew Emmons, holder of three Olympic shooting medals, into second place. On Saturday, Alexei Klimov of Russia matched the world record of 35 points in the final of the 25m pistol event for men.

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The third stage of the 2016 World Cup Series of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) was the largest single test event for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The competition, which ran from Friday (15 April) to Sunday (24 April), tested the facilities and operations of the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro in western Rio.  

Testing conditions

The high levels of performance in the event came despite unseasonably high temperatures in southeastern Brazil. Organisers will install air conditioning in the finals hall before the Olympic Games in August. After breaking the record, Zicheng said that on their return to China the country's shooting team would look for a training venue with similar conditions, to help them acclimatise to Rio. 

China ended the competition at the top of the table with seven medals in total, including two golds, ahead of Russia in second and Ukraine in third.  

Shooters in the skeet events, which take place outdoors, struggled with the heat and big names missed out on the medals. Marcus Svensson of Sweden won the first gold medal of his career, besting India’s Mairaj Ahmad Khan for in a tie-breaking shoot-off. “It’s so great to win in Rio. The ranges are beautiful, I shot really well and I’m glad to be here. It will be great to come back in a few months,” Svensson said after the medal ceremony. For Khan, silver was his first medal of any colour in ISSF World Cup events, after 15 years of competing.

“It was the best performance of my life. For me, this is not hot. Where I come from it is 45 degrees”

Mairaj Ahmad Kahn, from India, silver medal in skeet at the Rio test event

Vincent Hancock missed out on the medals at Rio but was honoured with an ISSF title (Photo:

Vincent Hancock of the USA, the reigning ISSF world champion and winner of gold medals in the skeet at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, came fifth in the competition but said he was looking forward to coming back.

After the event, Hancock was presented with the 2015 ISSF Men’s Shooter of the Year Award. “I was here in 2007, when I won gold at the Pan American Games. Rio is very cool. I will be back in August to try and win another gold,” Hancock said.

In the women’s skeet, Thailand’s Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit won her first World Cup gold medal, beating triple Olympic champion and shooting legend Kimberly Rhode of the USA into second place.

Air conditioning on its way

Gary Anderson, a double gold medallist for the USA in shooting who came to Rio as vice president of the ISSF, said he was “very satisfied” with how the test event worked out.

“Everything turned out well with a very high level of performance. I believe the Rio 2016 Games will be excellent”

Gary L. Anderson, ISSF vice president

Anderson said there were only minor issues to be resolved, such as the installation of air conditioning. Although some competitors said it was hard to see all the targets clearly, Anderson said the design of lighting and colour in the venue complied fully with the current rules.

The complete list of medallists from the Rio test event