The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early competitions are still seen by the organization as the beginning of a continuous row of championships. By this logic, the 2006 competition in Zagreb was called the 49th ISSF World Shooting Championships. These championships, including all ISSF shooting events, are held every four years since 1954. For the shotgun events only, there is an additional World Championship competition in odd-numbered years. These extra competitions are not numbered. In running target, there will be World Championships in Olympic years.
Romania competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. The nation returned to the Olympic Games after having missed the 1948 Summer Olympics. 114 competitors, 103 men and 11 women, took part in 67 events in 15 sports.
Venezuela competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy. 36 competitors, 31 men and 5 women, were selected by the Comité Olímpico Venezolano to take part in 26 events in 9 sports. The Venezuelan representation was similar to that of the Helsinki Games that awarded the country first olympic medal but including for the first time a Venezuelan sailing and weightlifting representation. The sporting shooter Enrico Forcella won the nation's second ever Olympic medal and to date solely Olympic medallist in shooting. Women's return after being absent from the previous game, competing in fencing like before but also for the first time in swimming.
Venezuela competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia, and in the equestrian events held in Stockholm, Sweden. Twenty-two competitors, all men, were selected by the Venezuelan Olympic Committee to take part in sixteen events across five sports. The delegation featured no female competitors, for the second time, and won no medals. While most of the Venezuelan athletes did not advance past the qualifying rounds of their sports, there were some good placings in the shooting, with Germán Briceño and Carlos Monteverde finishing in the top 10 of their events.
The United States competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 286 competitors – 245 men and 41 women – took part in 133 events in 18 sports. They won 76 medals, including 6 podium sweeps; the highest number of medal sweeps in a single Olympiad by one country since World War II and still a record.
Guatemala competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 21 competitors, 20 men and 1 woman, took part in 26 events in 6 sports.
With the competitions in shooting at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the Olympic shooting program began its expansion. Three new events were added: 100 metre running deer, 50 metre rifle three positions and trap. In total there were seven events held between 25 and 29 July 1952. No women participated in the 1952 shooting events. This was the first year that a new format was introduced as well: the sights on the guns were now located on the left side of the barrel.
Sweden competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 206 competitors, 183 men and 23 women, took part in 124 events in 17 sports.
Norway competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 102 competitors, 96 men and 6 women, took part in 72 events in 14 sports. Earlier in the year, Norway had hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.
Athletes from the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 87 competitors, 77 men and 10 women, took part in 48 events in 11 sports.
The Union of South Africa competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 64 competitors, 60 men and 4 women, took part in 59 events in 13 sports.
Greece competed with 48 athletes at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 48 competitors, all men, took part in 24 events in 7 sports. Greek athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games.
Monaco competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Eight competitors, all men, took part in six events in two sports.
Boris Vasilyevich Andreyev was a Soviet shooter. He won a silver and a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics, aged 46, in the 50 metre rifle prone and 50 metre rifle three positions, respectively. In the former event, both he and Iosif Sîrbu broke the world record by executing 40 ideal 10-point shots, but Sîrbu outscored Andreyev 33:28 by the number of hits into the central area of the 10-point black circle.
The men's 50 metre rifle, prone was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics programme. It was the sixth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 3 August 1948 at the shooting ranges at London. 71 shooters from 26 nations competed.
The men's 300 m rifle three positions was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1952 Summer Olympics programme. It was the sixth appearance of the event at an Olympic Games. The competition was held on 27 July 1952, with 32 shooters from 18 nations competing. Each nation was limited to two shooters. The event was won by Anatoli Bogdanov with Lev Vainshtein in third, as the Soviet Union took both gold and bronze in its debut. Between the Soviets was Robert Bürchler of Switzerland, earning silver.
The Men's 50 metre rifle three positions event was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1952 Summer Olympics programme. It was the first appearance of the event. The competition was held on 29 July 1952 at the shooting ranges in Helsinki. 44 shooters from 25 nations competed.
The men's 50 metre rifle prone was a shooting sports event held as part of the shooting programme of the 1956 Summer Olympics. It was the eighth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 5 December 1956 at the shooting ranges in Melbourne. 44 shooters from 25 nations competed.
The men's 50 metre rifle, prone was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the tenth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 16 October 1964 at the shooting ranges in Tokyo. 73 shooters from 43 nations competed.
The men's 50 metre rifle, prone was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on July 30, 1984, at the shooting ranges in Los Angeles. 71 shooters from 46 nations competed.
