Shooting sports is a collective group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using various types of ranged firearms, mainly referring to man-portable guns and bows/crossbows.
Shooting sports have been included at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 and 1928 games.
Officially referred to only as trap, and also known in the United States as international trap, bunker trap, trench or international clay pigeon, the single-target Olympic trap shooting event has a history of more than a hundred years. It is considered more difficult than most other trap versions in that the distance to the targets and the speed with which they are thrown are both greater.
The men's individual trap shooting competition was one of 15 shooting sports events on the Shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. It was held from 8 to 11 July. Each nation could enter up to 12 shooters. There were 61 competitors from 8 nations. Canada took the top two spots, with Walter Ewing earning gold and George Beattie silver. There were two bronze medals awarded after Alexander Maunder of Great Britain and Anastasios Metaxas tied for third place. The medals were the first in the event for all three nations. Ewing also received Lord Westbury's Cup as a challenge prize.
The men's individual competition with revolver and pistol, distance 50 metres was a shooting sports event held as part of the shooting at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which was the only one to have been featured at every edition of the Games to that point. The competition was held on Monday, 1 July 1912. Fifty-four sport shooters from twelve nations competed. Nations were limited to 12 shooters each. The event was won by Alfred Lane of the United States, completing a double for him with the rapid fire pistol event. It was the United States' second victory in the event. Another American, Peter Dolfen, finished second. Charles Stewart of Great Britain took the bronze medal, the nation's first in the free pistol.
The men's trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the shooting at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1900. The competition was held from Tuesday, 2 July 1912 to Thursday, 4 July 1912. Each nation could send up to 12 shooters. Sixty-one sport shooters from eleven nations competed. The event was won by James Graham of the United States. Silver went to Alfred Goeldel of Germany and bronze to Haralds Blaus of the Russian Empire. Each of the nations on the podium was making its debut in the event. Graham also received Lord Westbury's Cup, a challenge prize instituted in 1908.
The men's trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 8 to 10 July 1924 at the shooting ranges at Issy-les-Moulineaux. 44 shooters from 14 nations competed. A maximum of four competitors per nation were allowed. The event was won by Gyula Halasy of Hungary, a victory in the nation's debut in the event. Silver went to Konrad Huber of Finland, that nation's first medal in the men's trap. The United States, which had earned gold in 1912 and 1920, took bronze this year with Frank Hughes on the podium.
The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting programs at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the 300 metre rifle three positions event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 31 July 1920, with 70 shooters from 14 nations competing. The event was won by Morris Fisher of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event. Niels Larsen of Denmark earned silver, while Østen Østensen of Norway took bronze.
The men's individual competition with revolver and pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of such an event at different distances. The competition was held on 2 August 1920. 31 shooters from 8 nations competed. The event was won by Karl Frederick of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and third overall victory in the event. Defending champion Alfred Lane took bronze, the first man to win multiple medals in the event. Brazil's Afrânio da Costa finished between the two Americans, taking silver.
The men's 50 metre team pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth and last appearance of the event. The competition was held on 2 August 1920. 65 shooters from 13 nations competed. The event was won by the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the event. Alfred Lane returned from the 1912 team, making him the second person to earn multiple medals, and multiple gold medals, in the men's team pistol. Sweden also repeated as silver medalists. Bronze went to Brazil, in that nation's debut in the event.
The men's trap event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 9 and 10 at the Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field. There were 35 competitors from 25 nations, with each nation having up to two shooters. The Czech Republic won its second shooting gold in two days through David Kostelecký, shooting a perfect 25 in the final round and establishing an Olympic record of 146 hits total after a 2005 rule change. It was the Czech Republic's first medal in the men's trap. Giovanni Pellielo of Italy repeated as the silver medalist; in addition to his 2000 bronze, this made Pellielo the first man to earn at least three medals in the event; he would go on to win a fourth in 2016. Defending Olympic champion Aleksei Alipov of Russia took bronze this year, making him the fifth man to earn two medals in the trap.
Men's trap shooting was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was held on 20 and 21 July 1996 at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex. there were 58 competitors from 41 nations, with each nation having up to three shooters. Michael Diamond of Australia won, setting two new Olympic records, ahead of two Americans. After the regular 150 targets, it took a marathon shoot-off to separate the silver and bronze medalists; after both shooters had hit 27 straight targets, Josh Lakatos hit his 28th while Lance Bade missed. It was the first medal in the men's trap for Australia; the United States had most recently been on the podium in the event in 1984.
Trap was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was the last Olympic trap competition open to both men and women. It was held from 31 July to 2 August 1992 at the Mollet del Vallès. There were 54 competitors from 36 nations, with each nation having up to 3 shooters. The competition consisted of a qualification round of 150 targets, a semifinal of 50 targets for the top 24 competitors, and a final of 25 targets for the top six. Petr Hrdlička and Kazumi Watanabe both hit 219 of the 225 targets, with Hrdlička winning the gold medal shoot-off. One hit behind, another shoot-off determined the bronze medalist, with Marco Venturini defeating Jörg Damme. Hrdlička's victory was the first gold medal for Czechoslovakia in the trap, shortly after the nation won its first medal in the event. Watanabe's silver was Japan's first medal in the trap. Venturini put Italy back on the podium after a one-Games absence in 1988 broke a four-Games medal streak in the event.
The trap competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics was held on 18–20 July in Montreal, Canada. There were 44 competitors from 29 nations, with each nation limited to two shooters. The event was won by Donald Haldeman of the United States, the nation's first victory in the trap since back-to-back wins in 1912 and 1920. The three total victories tied the United States with Italy for most among nations at the time, though Italy would win the next two and the United States has not win again since. In this Games, Ubaldesco Baldi of Italy took bronze. Silver went to Armando Marques of Portugal, that nation's first medal in the trap.
The trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1968 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on 18 and 19 October 1968 at the shooting ranges in Mexico City. 55 shooters from 34 nations competed. For the first time, the event was open to women as well as men. Nations were limited to two shooters each. The event was won by Bob Braithwaite of Great Britain, the nation's first victory in the event and first medal of any color in the trap since 1908. Silver went to Thomas Garrigus of the United States. Kurt Czekalla of East Germany took bronze; it was the first medal in the event for East Germany as a separate nation, and the first medal for any German trap shooter since 1912.
The men's trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held from 15 to 17 October 1964 at the Tokorozawa Clay Pigeon Shooting Range in Tokorozawa, Saitama. 51 shooters from 28 nations competed. Each nation could send up to two shooters. The event was won by Ennio Mattarelli of Italy, the nation's second victory in three Games in the event. Pāvels Seničevs of the Soviet Union took silver. William Morris earned the United States' first medal in the trap since 1924 with his bronze. Seničevs and Morris defeated Galliano Rossini of Italy in a three-way shoot-off for second; Rossini thus just missed earning a third medal in the trap. Defending champion Ion Dumitrescu of Romania finished fifth.
The men's ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eighth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 4 August 1948 at the shooting ranges at London. 59 shooters from 22 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three shooters each since the 1932 Games. The event was won by Károly Takács of Hungary, the nation's first medal in the event. Argentine Carlos Enrique Díaz Sáenz Valiente took silver, also his nation's first rapid fire pistol medal. Unlike Hungary and Argentina, Sweden was no stranger to the podium in this event; Sven Lundquist's bronze made it the fourth consecutive time that Sweden competed it earned a medal.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the ninth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 30 November 1956 at the shooting ranges in Melbourne. 33 shooters from 22 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The winner was Pentti Linnosvuo of Finland, the nation's first medal in the free pistol. The Soviet Union also won its first medal in the event, with Makhmud Umarov's silver. American Offutt Pinion took bronze.
The men's trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event. The competition was held from 29 November to 1 December 1956 at the shooting ranges in Melbourne. 32 shooters from 18 nations competed. Nations were limited to two shooters each. The event was won by Galliano Rossini of Italy, with his countryman Alessandro Ciceri taking bronze. Between the two Italians was Adam Smelczyński of Poland, earning bronze. They were the first medals in the men's trap for both nations. Ciceri had to win a three-way shoot-off for the bronze medal against the Soviet pair, Nikolay Mogilevsky and Yury Nikandrov; his win in that shoot-off made the men's trap the only shooting event in 1956 with no Soviets on the podium.
The trap was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1980 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held between 20 and 22 July 1980 at the shooting ranges in Moscow. 34 shooters from 19 nations competed. Each nation was limited to two shooters. The event was won by Luciano Giovannetti of Italy, the nation's fourth victory in the trap. Silver went to the host Soviet Union's Rustam Yambulatov, that nation's first medal in the event since 1964. Jörg Damme of East Germany took bronze. The second through fourth places required a shoot-off, with a second shoot-off for silver and bronze.
