At the Olympic Games men and women shoot.
They shoot rifles, pistols and shotguns.
Sometimes they stand to shoot.
Sometimes they kneel down on one knee.
Sometimes they are prone (lying down)
They shoot at targets.
This competitor prepares for the rifle shoot ©iStock
In shooting, competitors use rifles and pistols and shoot at stationary targets in a shooting range. When they use a shotgun they aim to hit moving targets.
The closer the bullet hits the target, the higher the score.©iStock
In rifle and pistol events, competitors aim at a target with concentric circles. The competitor who hits the target closer to the centre scores more points.
A pistol shooter stands while shooting. ©iStock
There are four gun types and three distances: 50m rifle, 10m air rifle, 25m rapid fire pistol and 10m air pistol.
To shoot rifles, competitors use three shooting positions: kneeling, where the athlete goes down on one knee and rests the gun on the knee; prone, (where the athlete shoots while lying down); and shooting while standing.
Shotgun is used to shoot at a flying targets known as clay targets or clay pigeons
A skeet shooter on the shooting range hitting the clay pigeon target.©iStock
There are two styles: trap shooting where the targets are thrown a long distance from a single trap (a trap is a machine that releases the clay target, hurling it into the air. Sometimes a trap is called a house) and skeet shooting, where targets are thrown from traps on the left and right.
