On this Week in Sport & Leisure History ~ Shooting

11^th  – Born on this day in 1884 in Rio de Janeiro was Olympic shooter Demerval Peixoto.  He represented Brazil at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, which were the first that Brazil had entered and shooting was to be the flagship event for them.  Peixoto was one of 21 men who travelled to Antwerp, a city still suffering the ravages of WWII which had ended just two short years earlier. Four years before the games he was fighting in the Contesado War. Their journey to Antwerp was very precariousness, they travelled third class, in small, airless cabins – so uncomfortable were the athletes that they decided to sleep on the floor of the bar instead, not getting to rest until the last customer left and them waking up early to train on the deck before other passengers woke. They journeyed to Lisbon, from where they had to proceed by train to Belgium, having been informed that the ship would not reach Antwerp in time to participate in the exams. The train was an open train, open to all the elements, after a 27-day trip, on their connection in Brussels, their weapons for the Olympics were variously stolen or seized by border guards, the story is not altogether that clear and there are many versions – however the fact is that the team arrived in Antwerp without their sport equipment, extremely hungry and in very low spirits. The American team, impressed at the fortitude of the Brazils while at the same time appalled by their situation, lent them guns and ammunition – modern and especially manufactured by Colt for the Games. The Brazilians proceeded to defeat their benefactors, with team member Guilherme Paraense claiming the first ever Brazilian Olympic Gold medal in the Individual 30m Pistol and the team taking Bronze in the 50m. Norweigan rifle shooter

Willy Røgeberg was born today in 1905 and died aged 64 in Oslo in December 1969, he competed in the sport before and after WWII, winning two Olympic Medals. His first in the prone 50m Rifle at the 1936 Berlin Games and then after the war he won a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics, this time in 300m Rifle, (Three positions event). He also won several medals in the ISSF World Shooting Championships. After his 1936 success he set up his own gun and sorting equipment business in Oslo. During the Second World War German occupation of Norway, Røgeberg was arrested by the Germans in May 1942 on weapons related charges. He spent the period until October 1942 incarcerated at Møllergata 19, and from 5^th October 1942 to 22^nd December 1943 as a prisoner at Grini concentration camp.

Born in 1928, Italian shooter Renato Sacchi, who competed in the 50m pistol event at the 1952 Olympics.

British rifle shooter, Anthony Greenfield, was born in 1931 in Croydon. He died in August 2004 in Bangor, North Wales at the age of 85. He represented GB at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, placing 20^th in the 50m Mixed Small-Bore Rifle, prone event.

Peter Laurence, also born today in 1931 was a Kenyan sports shooter, he competed in the 25 metre pistol event at the 1972 Olympics, finishing in 58^th overall.

Hong Kong was the birth place of Anthony Chuang today in 1944, he took part in the 1984 Mixed skeet shooting in Los Angeles where he came 66^th in the final standings.

American Tony Rosetti, another skeet shooter, was born in 1945. Rosetti competed at the 1972 Olympics while he was a student at the University of Mississippi, placing 35^th overall. He won silver in skeet shooting at the 1971 Pan American Games and was US International Champion in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He won the National Skeet Shooting title, an aggregate of four gauges, in 1970 and 1972. His biggest international title came in winning the 1970 Grand Prix of Europe. In 1995 he was inducted into the National Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame.

Born on this day in 1960, Italian sharp shooter Roberta Pelosi. She was  selected to compete for Italy at the 2004 Olympics, and established a career tally of eighteen medals in a major international competition, including a world-record breaking gold at the 1998 ISSF World Cup meet in Cairo, and a silver in women’s trap at the 2003 World Shotgun Championships in Nicosia, Cyprus. Pelosi is a member of Valle Aniene Target Shooting Club and a resident athlete of the Italian Clay Shooting Federation, where she trained under head coach and 1996 Olympic double trap medallist Albano Pera. She qualified for the Italian team, as a 43-year-old, in the women’s trap at the 2004 Athens Games after she registered a minimum qualifying score of 67 to fill one of the Olympic places awarded to Italy from her top finish at the 2002 ISSF World Cup meet in Suhl, Germany. Pelosi scored 58 hits out of a possible 75 to impose a three-way tie with Great Britain’s Sarah Gibbins and 2000 Olympic double trap champion Pia Hansen of Sweden for ninth place in the qualifying round, just two targets away from the final cut-off.

Avneet Kaur Sidhu, who was born in Muktsar, Indian today in 1981, won gold in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle (Pairs) with Tejaswini Sawant at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In August 2006, winning an Olympic quota for India in the 49^th World Shooting Championship held at Zagreb, she became the sixth sportsperson from India to book her place in the 2008 Olympic Games. Her long tally of her achievements include a bronze medal in the 15^th Asian Gamesin 2006, a bronze in the 11^th Asian Shooting Championship held in Kuwait and gold in AISL Australia Cup II held at Sydney in March 2008 She can also claim to being the first woman shooter from Punjab to represent India in the Olympic Games and the first woman shooter from Punjab to win the Commonwealth and Asian Games medals. Recipient of Punjab State Award, she was conferred with the Arjuna Award by President Mrs. Pratibha Patil in August 2008.

 

                                                                                              

12^th -Born on this day in 1873, sports shooter Erik Jonsson of Sweden. He competed at the 300m military rifle event at the 1912 Olympic Games and died aged 84 on 5^th October 1958 aged 84.

Senior British army officer, Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame was born today in 1888. On leaving Cheltenham College, Neame went to the RMA Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1908 which marked the start of an outstanding military career. In December1914 he won the Victoria Cross at Neuve Chappelle, two years later he was awarded DSO and after filling various commands with distinction attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1940. He was knighted in 1946, while serving as Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey from 1945-53. Neame was a fine all-round sportsman, his interest embracing not only target shooting but also hockey, mountaineering, polo, hunting, skiing and big game shooting. None of these sports made excessive demands on his time to be the detriment of the others and he looked on each strictly as a pastime. In fact, his autobiography, which he wrote in captivity before escaping from an Italian prisoner of war camp, reveals that at the 1924 Olympic Games he was under the impression that he was representing the British Empire rather than Great Britain. Unlike his teammates in the running deer, double shot, team event, who defeated Norway by a single point, Neame did not take part in any other event at the Paris Olympics but he has the distinction of being the only man to win an Olympic gold medal and be awarded the Victoria Cross. Neame was a versatile shot and represented the Army in both revolver and rifle competitions. Although overseas postings meant that his appearances at Bisley were spasmodic, he reached the Kings final in 1929. Like many other Olympians, it was a love of sport that led Philip Neame into marriage but the particular circumstance of his meeting his future wife are not entirely common – after being badly mauled by a tiger while big game hunting in India he married Miss Alberta Drew, who nursed him in the hospital. He later served as Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey from 1945 to 1953. His achievement of being a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, and the winner of an Olympic Gold medal, make him the only person to attain both distinctions.

Born today in 1900, Itlatian shooter Luigi Adami, who competed in the 50m rifle event at the 1948 Olympics.

Vasily Borisov, soviet rifle-shooter was born in 1922. At the 1956 and 1960 Olympics he took part in five individual events and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal.  Between 1954 and 1966 Borisov won more than 20 medals at world championships level and at the 1954 World Championships, he and his teammate Anatoli Bogdanov won 13 medals each, clean-sweeping most rifle events.

Hong Kong Olympian Reginald Dos Remedios, born today in 1922, contested the free and small-bore rifle at the 1964 and 1976 Olympics. He also competed at the 1962, ’66 and ’70 Asian Games

Humberto Aspitia born in 1928 is an Argentine former sports shooter. He competed in the 50m pistol contest at the 1964 Olympics.

Brazilian Allan Sobocinski, born on this day in 1931, was placed 56^th overall in the 25m pistol event in the London Games in 1948.  

Galina Vasilyevna Belyayeva born in Yekaterinburg, Russian in 1951, competed for Kazakhstan in pistol shooting at two Olympics (1996, and 2004). Outside of the Olympics she has produced a career tally of six medals in major competition: a bronze in air pistol at the 1994 World Championships in Milan and five more (one gold, two silver, and two bronze) at various ISSF World Cup meets. Belyayeva holds dual citizenship to compete for Kazakhstan, and also trains under head coach Sadulla Yunusmetova for the Kazakhstan national shooting team, she is married to 1996 Olympic silver medallist Sergey Belyayev. Belyayeva’s Olympic debut came as part of the inaugural Kazakh team, along with her husband Sergey, at the 1996 Games.  From there, she put up a brilliant aim at 481.7 points to chase her fellow markswoman Yuliya Bondareva for sixth place in the air pistol. Belyayeva also competed in the sport pistol, but failed to reach the final after finishing in a distant thirtieth from a field of thirty-seven shooters with a total score of 567 (286 in precision and 281 in the rapid-fire). After losing her 2000 Olympic bid to Bondareva and newcomer Dina Aspandiyarova, who later represented Australia, she returned from an eight-year-absence to compete for her second Kazakh team, as the oldest athlete (aged 51), in pistol shooting at the 2004 Olympics.

Born on this day in 1957, Bulgarian Ivan Gulev, he was affiliated to the Assenovetz cub in Assenovgrad and represented his country at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, where he came 37^th in the Men’s trap shooting.

Japanese shooter Tomoyuki Matsuda, born in 1975, started his international career in 2002. At the 2008 Olympics he was placed 8^th in the 50m pistol event and 18^th in the 10m air pistol. He also competed at the 2012 London Games, finishing in 11^th in the 50m pistol event and 13^th in the 10m air pistol event. He won gold in the 10m air pistol at the 2010 World Championships held in Munich.

Denys Kushnirov, born in the Ukraine in 1992 competes in the men’s 10metre air pistol.  At the 2012 Olympics, he finished 18^th in the qualifying round, unfortunately failing to make the cut for the final.

                         

13^th– Otto Martin Olsen, Norweigan rifle shooter was bornin Oslo on this day in 1884. He competed in the early 20^th century, winning eight Olympic medals and became the third shooter to win two Olympic individual gold medals and is one of five athletes to have done so at one Olympics. An excellent running target shooter, winning the single shot competition in the 1920 Games, adding another gold as a member of the Norwegian running target team. Four years later he was also part of the victorious Norwegian team at the Paris Olympics. He was an excellent rifle shooter too, winning gold in prone military rifle, at Antwerp. Olsen was World Champion in the running deer double shot team competition in both 1929 at Stockholm and 1931, as well as silver medallist in the running deer single shot team event (1929, 1931), and silver medallist in the double shot individual (1929), making a total of three World championship golds and three silvers. Furthermore, he was Nordic Champion in 1926, 1928 and 1936 and awarded the King’s Cup as best Norwegian shooter at the 1929 and 1932 national championships. As a shooter, he holds the highest number of Olympic medals for his country, eight in total: four gold, three silver and one bronze. Olsen worked as a cargo manager for the Norwegian Railway Company NSB and died in July 1953.

Cuban small-bore rifle competitor Silvio Delgado Martanez was born today in 1940. He competed in the 1968 Games in Mexico, placing 12^th in the prone 50m event.

Born seven years later in 1947 in France was Roger Mangin.  He competed in the mixed-skeet at the 1972 Olympics, where he came 37^th in the final standings. The format for this event was 200 targets: four rounds of 25 targets with a total of 100 targets in each day. Ties for the medals were to be decided with a shoot off, all other ties were broken by the best score in round 8, if still tied after that it goes back to round 7 and so on until the tie is broken. In the end all three medallists had a tied score of 195. A shoot off was held, and 1970 world champion, Konrad Wirnhier of West Germany hit all 25 birds to claim the gold. Earlier in the competition co-world record holder Yury Tsuranov of the Soviet Union had contested a ruling on a lost bird, and walked off the field and was penalized three birds. This brought his score down to 192, exactly three birds short for the shoot off for the gold medal!

Born in Budapest in 1952 was Ferenc Szilágyi, his one and only appearance at the Olympics, in 1980, saw him finish in 18^th place in the prone 50m small-bore rifle event.

Another 1980 Olympian, Costa Rican Marco Hidalgo was born in 1959, his event was the mixed rapid fire pistol, shooting over 25m in which he came 31^st.

Ryohei Koba was born in Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan today in 1962. He won a bronze medal in 50m rifle (three positions) at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He also represented his country at Seoul in 1988 where he was 12^th in the 10m air rifle, 28^th in the 50m three position small-bore rifle event and 51^st in prone 50m small-bore.

Norweigan Leif Steinar Rolland was born in Bergen in 1970. He competed at the 1996, 2000and 2004 Olympics, where he finished 5^th, 7^th and 18^th respectively in the 10m air rifle competition. He set a new World Record in the 10m Air Rifle category, firstly in the 1997 Munich World Cup and again at the 2001 World Cup in Seoul.  He is the former coach of the Norway (Junior, Senior & Para) shooting team and coach of Indian air rifle shooter Pushan Jain.

Three years later in China in 1973 saw the birth of Niu Zhiyuan, a bronze team medallist from the 2000 Sydney Games in the men’s running 10m target, individual 1998 World Champion and 1996 World bronze medallist. The Chinese team are also joint world record holders for this event, equalling the Russian effort on 31^st July 2006. The 10m running target mixed is one of the ISSF shooting events, in which an airgun is used to shot at a target that moves sideways. The target is pulled across a 2m aisle at a range of 10m from the firing point. The target is pulled either slowly or fast, and it is visible for 5 or 2½ seconds, respectively. The difference from 10m running target is that the slow and the fast runs are fired in a randomized order, that is not known beforehand to the competitor. The course of fire is 40 shots, divided into two 20-shot stages, each consisting of exactly 10 slow and 10 fast runs.

Wang Tao from China was born on this day in 1982. He competed in the Men’s 10m air rifle event at the 2012 Olympics where he finished in 4^th place.

Uzbekistani sports shooter Sakina Mamedova, born today in 1985, competed in the Women’s 10 metre air rifle event at the 2012 Olympics, as well as the 50m rifle three positions event.

Ahmed Zaher, Egyptain trap shooter was born in 1989. He uses a Bertetta DT11 rifle and started shooting in 2006 and in 2008nbecame the Junior Arab Champion. A year later he participated in his first ISSF event at the World Championship of Maribor and in 2011 he won gold at the African Championship in Rabat and was the bronze medallist in the 2014 Championship. His advice for any other athlete is taken from a quote from the film “Rocky” – Its not about how hard you hit, its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

                                                                                      

14^th– Harald Ekwall, who was born on this day in 1873, was a Chilean sports shooter. He competed in four events at the 1912nOlympics in Stockholm: 50m free pistol, duelling 30m pistol, Military rifle 300m  (three position) and Military rifle, 600m (any position)  In the free pistol the 8^th place finisher,Nikolay Panin was a well-known figure skater, who had won the special figures gold medal at the 1908 Olympics in London. His real name was Nikolay Kolomenkin, but he competed under the pseudonym of Nikolay Panin, presumably because sports were considered undignified by the elite of Russian society in that era. In the 300m three position event, which took place on 1^st July 1912, the format was in two stages, firstly four shots are taken from the kneeling position, four from the prone and two standing – in a time limit of three minutes. In the second stage, five shots prone and five shots kneeling in a time limit of three minutes. A possible 50 points for each stage, 100 overall and ties were to be decided by the greatest number of hits on the half-figure. With one shot to go, Nils Romander,  an 18-year-old Swedish schoolboy, was in the lead, having missed only one shot to that point. All he had to do was to hit the half-figure with his last shot and the gold medal was his. The Swedish crowd was excited and gathered around him, but he became nervous with all the excitement, and missed the last shot. Hungary’s Sandor Prokopp, who was tied for 6th place after the first stage, but in the second stage recorded one of the seven perfect scores of 50. His combined total of 97 won him the gold medal. Prokopp had competed at London in 1908, but only in the free rifle event, in which he finished 43^rd.

Karl G. B. Richter from Sweden was born in 1876 and competed in both the 1920 and 1924 Games. He died on 30^th November 1959. In 1920 he won bronze as member of the Swedish team in the team clay pigeon competition. He also participated in the individual trap event. Four years later he finished fifth with the Swedish team in the team clay pigeon competition.

Åke Lundeberg, a Swedish military officer and forest manager, who belonged to the State Forestry School in Kloten at the time of the 1912 Olympics, was born on this day in 1888. He won two gold and one silver medals in 1912, in the Running Target, single shot team and double shot events and the individual running target, single shot event respectively. He retired early and returned to his home town of Gävle, where he died aged 50 on 29^th May 1939. After taking the first nine places in the double-shot running deer event on 3^rd July, Sweden was heavily favoured in the team running deer event and they won easily. They were led by the individual winners in the two running deer events, Lundeberg and Alfred Swahn. But their leading scorer in the team event was Swahn’s father, Oscar Swahn, who was 64 years, 257 days old on 4^th July 1912, making him the oldest gold medallist in Olympic history. Oscar Swahn returned to the Olympics in 1920, where he won a silver medal in the team running deer event. In 1920, he won his medal aged 72 years, 279 days, making him the oldest medallist in Olympic history. Oscar Swahn was on the Swedish shooting team which was to compete at the 1924 Paris Olympics, but he fell ill shortly before those Games and did not compete. He died on 1^st May 1927, a few months shy of his 80th birthday.

Giancarlo Boriani born in 1894  and died at the aged of 87 on 26^th January 1982 was an Italian sports shooter. He competed at the 1920 and 1936 Olympics. He was affiliated to TSN Bologna in Italy. His best Olympic finish was 4^th at the Military Rifle, standing 300m event.

The 50m free pistol was the event of Carlos Lalanne who was born in 1906 in Chile, he competed in 1936 and was 16^th in the overall standings.  The free pistol was shot at 50m with 60 shots fired in six series of 10 shots.

Small bore rifle shooter, Siegfried Gurschler, born in 1925, in Austria, competed in the 50m three position and 50m prone events at the 1952 Helskini Games.

Canadian Robert “Bob” Cheyne was born in 1947 in Vancouver. At the 1984 Olympics his best result was a 9^th place finish in the small bore rifle three position event.

Walter Antonio Martanez Herna¡ndez was born in Nicaragua in 1967. He competed in three Olympics for his country as a rifle shooter at the1996, 200 and 2008 Games.

 

                                                                                  

15^th -Hans Aasnæs, Norwegian Army officer and Olympic sport shooter and World Champion was born in 1902. A lawyer by education, Aasnæs was a member of the Norwegian Army during the Second World War, fighting against Nazi Germany. After the war, he participated in numerous national and international shooting championships, including five Olympic Games, and won several World Championship medals. Aasnæs was born in the municipality of Sande in Vestfold, the son of farmers Hans Alfred Aasnæs and Anna Kristine Freberg and through his second wife he was a brother-in-law of wartime resistance member and engineer Bror With.  He was also a cousin of fellow Olympic sport shooter Håkon Aasnæs. Hans Aasnæs himself died in Oslo in 1965. At the Norwegian national shooting championships, between 1934 and 1960, Aasnæs won a total of 29 gold medals in seven different shooting disciplines. He was also awarded the King’s Cup six different years, the first time in 1934. He competed at the1936 Olympics, where he placed ninth in 25 metre rapid fire pistol event.  At the 1937 World Championships he won a silver medal in the running deer double shot event, and a bronze medal in the running deer single shot event. Aasnæs was a member of the Norwegian Officers’ Pistol Club, the Oslo Sport Shooters and the Hunting Shooter Club. Having left the army in 1940, Aasnæs became the World Champion in the individual 100m running deer double shot event in 1947.He was also part of the Norwegian team that won a silver medal in the running deer double shot event, and bronze medal in the running deer single shot event. At the 1949 World Championships, he won a gold medal with the Norwegian team in the running deer combined event. In 1952, he won two team gold medals at the World Championships, in the running deer single shot and double shot events. At the 1954 World Championships he won a bronze medal in the Olympic trap. He competed in five Olympic Games, with a 5th place in trap at the 1960 Olympics in Rome as best result.

Eduard Grand, born in 1908 was a Romanian sports shooter. He competed in the 50m rifle event at the 1936 Olympics.  

Canadian Bruno De Costa, who competed at the skeet event in the 1972 Olympics was born in 1938.

Irfan Adelbi, Jordanian rifleman and Olympian was born today in 1945. He participated in the 1984 Olympics in the mixed trap in which he took the 65th place.

Cypriot Mikhalakis Tymbios, born in 1948, competed at the Summer Olympics in 1984 and 1988. In 1984, he placed 69^thin the mixed skeet event, and in 1988, he tied for 20^th place.   

Maarit Hillevi Lepomäki born in Pori in Finland in 1956, produced a career tally of nine medals, including a silver in skeet shooting at the 2004 ISSF World Cup final in Maribor, Slovenia, and was selected to compete for Finland in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Having pursued the sport for more than two decades, Lepomaki trained full-time for Satakunta Shooting Club under personal coach Lauri Siltavirta. Lepomaki’s major Olympic debut came at the 2000 Olympics, where she wound up to eleventh in the inaugural women’s skeet with a score of 68 out of 75 hits, tying her position with Italy’s Cristina Vitali.At the 2004 Olympics in Athens,she qualified for the second time, as the oldest athlete of the Finnish team (aged 47), in the women’s skeet. Less than two years before the Games, she had registered a mandatory minimum score of 65 and eventually won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup meet in Suhl, Germany, occupying one of the available Olympic qualifying places for her team. Lepomaki accrued a total record of 67 out of 75 clay targets to share a three-way tie with 2000 Olympic silver medallist and world record holder Svetlana Demina of Russia and 43-year-old Kim Yeun-hee of South Korea for the ninth position, failing to advance to the final round.

Born on this day in 1967, Corne Basson, South African sport shooter, who competed at the 2000 Olympics in the 50m three position rifle event in which he was 44^th and the prone, in which he fared slightly worse, tying for 47^th place overall.

Kimberley-Anne “Kim” Eagles was born in Montreal in 1976, was affiliated to the Richmond Rod and Gun Club. She was the Canadian National Champion in Sport Pistol and Women’s Air Pistol in 2000. She was also the Canadian National record holder in both Junior and Senior Women’s Air Pistol and Sport Pistol. She represented Canada at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She started her sporting life as an eight year old tetrathlete in the pony club.  The tetrathlon is a shorter version of the modern pentathlon for younger athletes. After which she concentrated on shooting alone as she found she was not that competitive at the running section, picking up any deficit on the shooting element.

Chinese shooter Jin Di was born in 1978 in Shanghai who competed in Olympic skeet at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. His best result came in 2008 where he finished in 7^th place.

Michael McPhail was born in 1981, an American rifle shooter he won gold in the 50m rifle prone event at the 2011 Pan American Games and competed in the same event at the 2012 Games where he was placed 9^th overall. McPhail started training in shooting in 1996. In 2004 he enlisted in the US Army and after completing his basic and infantry training at Fort Benning, in early 2005 he was assigned to the US Army Marksmanship Unit.

Russian Daria Olegovna Vdovina was born in 1989, she competed in the 10m air rifle event at the 2012 and 2016  Olympics, her best placing being that of 5^th in Rio de Janeiro.

Kim Chan-mi, born in Korea also in 1989. She won a silver medal in the air rifle at the 2007 Asian Shooting Championships, with a score of 501.1 points, earning a spot on the Olympic team, she went on to represent South Korea at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she competed in the 10m air rifle, along with her teammate Kim Yeo-oul. She finished only in tenth place by one point behind Slovakia’s Daniela Pešková with her final attempt, for a total score of 396 targets.

 

16^th – Swedish sports shooter Nils Skog was born on this day in 1877 and died aged 86 on 28^th April 1964. His home club was the Hudiksvalls SG and he competed in the 300m free rifle, three positions event at the 1912 Olympics.

Ivar Wester, another Swedish shooter was born in 1892. He took part in the team free rifle event at the 1924 Games. He passed away on 13^th September 1967 at the age of 74.

Viljo Leskinen from Finland was born in 1908 in Toholampi and died at the young age of 36 on 16^th November 1945 He competed in the 50m rifle event at the 1936 Olympics. His brother is Kullervo Leskinen who represented Finland at Olympic level, cometing in two Games, 1948 and 1952.

Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1912, Ujitoshi Konomi, who, at the 1956 Olympics took part in the three position rifle event which took place a the Royal Australian Air Force Station, in Laverton, Victoria. He died in Tokyo on 5^th March 1980, aged 67.

Peruvian Antonio Vita, born in 1921 and competed at the 1956, 1960,1964 and 1968 Olympics. His event was the 50m free pistol and he was placed 22^nd, 20^th, 6^th and 42^nd respectively.

Victor Huthart, born in London in 1924, represented Great Britain at the 1960 Olympics in the trap event.  He died in March 1997 in Carlisle, Cumbria.

Australian sport shooter John Summers, who was born in 1957, he took part in the 1992 Olympics in the mixed skeet event, in which he tied for 21st place.

Karin Bauer was born in Austria today in 1963. At the 1984 Games she competed in the 10m air rifle and the small-bore three position rifle events, placing 18^th and 15^th respectively.

Russian-born Nicaraguan shooter Svitlana Kashchenko de Lopéz was born in1968. She achieved a ninth-place finish in the air rifle at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, and later represented Nicaragua at the 2004 Olympics, where she became the nation’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Throughout her sporting career, Kashchenko trained for the Nicaraguan Shooting Federation in Managua. Kashchenko qualified for the Nicaraguan squad in two sport shooting events at the 2004 Olympics in Athens by receiving a wild card entry from ISSF. On the first day of the Games, Kashchenko scored a total of 383 points to share a 41^st tie with Jamaica’s Dawn Kobayashi in the 10m air rifle. Six days later, in the 50m rifle 3 positions and 189 shots in the prone position, 183 in standing, and 191 in kneeling to deliver a 28^th place finish in a vast field of 33 shooters with a total score of 563.

Wu Liuxi from China was born on this day in 1984 in Weinan, Shaanxi. Wu Liuxi was selected for the Shaanxi Provincial Shooting Team when she was only 20 years old. She became known when she outperformed Zhao Yinghui and Du Li and tied the world record in women’s air rifle with 400 points at the Fifth National Intercity Games. She was recruited for the national shooting team soon after that. Wu is known for her calmness, composure and excellent emotional control.

 

 

17^th– Konrad Stäheli, who was born on this day in 1866 in Switzerland. He participated in the 1900 Olympics and the 1906 Intercalated Games. In 1900 he won three golds in the Military Pistol team and the Military Rifle team, and in the Military Rifle individual. He also won a bronze medal in the free pistol competition; fellow Swiss shooter Karl Roderer won gold. Participating in shooting at the 1906 Intercalated Games at Athens, Stäheli took five more medals – a gold medal, two silver medals and a bronze medal in the individual rifle events, and another gold medal in the team rifle competition. His nine total medals in Olympic shooting competition remained a record until the American Carl Osburn won 11, all in rifle events, between 1912 and 1924. Stäheli also won the 1906 World Championship in 50m Pistol. In 1909, In Hamburg, Stäheli became the first ever person to break the 1000 point barrier in the free rifle event, he won 44 medals in the individual events (69 medals counting the events team) at the World Shooting Championships. He won 38 gold, 17 silver and 10 bronze at the World Championships and 3 gold and 1 bronze at the Summer Olympics, but in 1900 Summer Olympics the events were valid as World Championship, therefore the total is 41/17/11.

Ollie Schriver, a gunnery sergeant in the marines in 1920, was born in Washington DC today in 1879. In 1905 he became the first marine to earn the distinguished marksman badge. He competed for several marine teams that won NRA championships and competed internationally for the U.S. in 1912 and 1913 at the Pan-American matches, as well as at the 1920 Olympics, where he won three golds. At the 1924 DeWar Cup Match vs. Great Britain, Schriver led the US to victory as the high man on the squad. Schriver was a career Marine Corpsman and served as his company’s trumpeteer as well as coaching the Corps’ shooters in the late 20s. He retired from the Marine Corps in May 1929, and took up a position as the official scorer for the National Rifle Association. He died on 28^th June 1947.

Russian Walter Bodneck born in 1885, competed in the men’s trap event at the 1912 Olympics.

Geurt Schoonman, was a Dutch sports shooter who was born in 1896. At the 1948 Games in London he competed in the 50m rifle, which took place on 3^rd August at Bisley Rifle Range. The format consisted of 60 shots in six rounds of 10 shots each, with a possible 600 points to be gained. He died on 19^th February 1971.

Argentinian shooter Juan Carlos Oxoby was born in 1931 who competed in the 25m pistol event at the 1964 Olympics, where he was placed 32^nd overall in the final rankings.

Anastasios Lordos, born in Cyprus in 1949, took part in the 1984 Los Angeles Games at the mixed trap event.

Serbian Jasna Šekarić born in 1965 has won a total of five Olympic medals: one gold, three silvers and one bronze. She has also won three World Championship gold medals in the 10m air pistol. In 1992, she lost the Olympic gold medal to Marina Logvinenko despite having the same score. She was named several times was the best sportswoman and shooter in the SFR Yugoslavia, Croatia, FRY, Serbia and Montenegroand Serbia. In 1988 and 1994 she received a Golden Badge of the Sport award for Yugoslavia’s best athlete. In the 2008 games, she was the country’s flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. Jasna is listed in the golden book of sport shooting as the only shooter participating at five Olympic Games while being a finalist in all five. Despite never having changed nationality, Šekarić has competed under four flags at her six Olympics. She competed for Yugoslavia at the 1988 Olympics. In 1992, since Yugoslavia was under UN sanctions, she (and fifty other Serbians, Montenegrins, and Macedonians) competed as Independent Olympic Participants. Her next three Olympics were under the flag of Serbia and Montenegro and she finally competed for Serbia in 2008. Another athlete to compete under four different flags is Serbian-American table tennis player Ilija Lupulesku, but he changed nationality in the process.

María Quintanal Zubizarreta who was born in 1969 in Biscay is a sport shooter from Gran Canaria, Spain. The 2003 world champion in Double Trap, she competed at the 2004 Olympics and won a silver medal in Trap. She also competed in the Double Trap and was placed 13^th.

South African shooter Jaco Henn was born in Johannesburg in 1974 and competed in rifle shooting events at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000, with his best finish being 22^nd in the 1996 small-bore 50m rifle, three position event.