The 36th UIT World Shooting Championships was the contemporary name of the ISSF World Shooting Championships in all ISSF shooting events that were held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1954. [1] It was the first time Venezuela hosted the competition (which it did again in 1982), and a new military shooting range had been constructed in the suburbs of Caracas for the event. [2]
After their successful debut in the 1952 Summer Olympics, the Soviet Union now participated for the first time in the World Championships, and won 20 of the 30 gold medals. [1] Rifle shooter Anatoli Bogdanov, the star of the 1952 shooting competitions in Helsinki, dominated once again with six individual and four team victories. He broke the world record in the 300 metre rifle three positions match with a margin of nine points. [3] In the shotgun events, the United States and Italy were still on top, but the shooting greatness of especially Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries had now diminished, shifting the tide eastward.
As in most other events, the Soviet team won the team championship in 25 metre center-fire pistol. The American marksman Arthur Jackson commented that the western shooters watched with a mixed sense of pity and relief as the Soviet team shot their archaic Nagant M1895 revolvers in the pre-event training. On the match day they revealed their practical joke and instead brought brand new American Smith & Wesson match revolvers, shooting the same kind of gun and ammunition as the individual champion, and winning three points ahead of the American team. [4]
| Rank | Country |  |  |  | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Soviet Union | 20 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| 2 |  Sweden | 4 | 9 | 5 | 18 |
| 3 |  United States | 3 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| 4 |  Italy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 |  Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 |  Norway | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 7 |  Switzerland | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 |  Yugoslavia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 |  Finland | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 10 |  Colombia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Cuba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Egypt | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Individual | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 metre pistol | |||||
| | Huelet Benner (USA) | 553 | | Soviet Union | 2722 |
| | Torsten Ullman (SWE) | 552 | | United States | 2706 |
| | A. Jasinsky (URS) | 552 | | Sweden | 2697 |
| 25 metre rapid fire pistol | |||||
| | N. Kalinichenko (URS) | 584 | | Soviet Union | 2317 |
| | William McMillan (USA) | 582 | | United States | 2292 |
| | Pentti Linnosvuo (FIN) | 581 | | Finland | 2289 |
| 25 metre center-fire pistol | |||||
| | Torsten Ullman (SWE) | 586 | | Soviet Union | 2319 |
| | Huelet Benner (USA) | 585 | | United States | 2316 |
| | William McMillan (USA) | 584 | | Cuba | 2263 |
| Individual | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trap | |||||
| | C. Merlo (ITA) | 296 | | Italy | 773 |
| | Galliano Rossini (ITA) | 293 | | Sweden | 768 |
| | Hans Aasnæs (NOR) | 293 | | Egypt | 768 |
| Skeet | |||||
| | Chester Crites (USA) | 148 | No team competition | ||
| | Kenneth Pendergrass (USA) | 145 | |||
| | B. Malmgren (SWE) | 145 | |||
| Individual | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metre running deer, double shot | |||||
| | D. Bobrun (URS) | 213 | | Soviet Union | 828 |
| | Vitali Romanenko (URS) | 206 | | Sweden | 804 |
| | Vladimir Sevryugin (URS) | 206 | | Norway | 757 |
| 100 metre running deer, single shot | |||||
| | Vitali Romanenko (URS) | 224 | | Soviet Union | 857 |
| | Rolf Bergersen (NOR) | 221 | | Norway | 824 |
| | N. Prosorovsky (URS) | 219 | | Sweden | 824 |
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The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eighth appearance of the event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 3 and 5 September 1960, with 39 shooters from 22 nations competing. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Hubert Hammerer in Austria's debut in the event. Hans Rudolf Spillmann of Switzerland took silver. Soviet Vasily Borisov was the second man to win two medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 1956 gold.
The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the ninth appearance of the event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 15 October 1964, with 30 shooters from 18 nations competing. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Gary Anderson of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event since 1920 and second overall. Both Americans made the podium, as Martin Gunnarsson took bronze. Shota Kveliashvili of the Soviet Union earned silver, extending the nation's podium streak to four Games.
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