Shooting was held at the 1st Olympics and all Olympics since then with the exception of 1904 and 1928. Women’s shooting began in 1984 with three events and is now up to six. The competition will be held in the National Shooting Center which has been around since 2007 and is part of the Deodoro zone of venues. Qualifying national spots for the Olympics has been part of the stakes at the various world cup, world championship, and regional championship events over the last two years. The various NOCs then got to choose who would take those spots.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 13 men and seven women. Only eight of the 20 are first timers while two of the 20 competed for other countries before immigrating to America. 11 were part of the team in London while six were part of the team in Beijing. Emil Milev is the oldest on the team at 38 while Virginia Thrasher is the youngest at 19.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Shooting
Men:
Will Brown – 10m pistol and 50m pistol
Jay Shi – 10m pistol and 50m pistol
Lucas Kozeniesky – 10m air rifle
Dan Lowe – 10m air rifle and 50m rifle three positions
Emil Milev* – 25m rapid fire pistol (part of Bulgaria’s team from 1992-2004)
Keith Sanderson** – 25m rapid fire pistol
David Higgins – 50m rifle prone
Michael McPhail* – 50m rifle prone
Matt Emmons*** – 50m rifle three positions
Glenn Eller**** – double trap
Josh Richmond* – double trap
Vincent Hancock** – skeet
Frank Thompson* – skeet

Women:
Lydia Patteson – 10m air pistol
Enkelejda Shehu – 10m air pistol and 25m pistol (part of Albania’s team from 1992-1996)
Sarah Scherer* – 10m air rifle and 50m rifle three positions
Virginia Thrasher – 10m air rifle and 50m rifle three positions
Kim Rhode***** – skeet
Corey Cogdell-Unrein** – trap

* – Was part of the team in 2012 – London
** – Was part of the team in 2012 & 2008 (Beijing)
*** – Was part of the team in 2012, 2008, and 2004 (Athens)
**** – Was part of the team in 2012, 2008, 2004, and 2000 (Sydney)
***** – Was part of the team in 2012, 2008, 2004, 2000, and 1996 (Atlanta)

Format:

In general each event will feature a qualification stage with only the top six of eight shooters advancing to the final. New from 2012, each event’s final will feature elimination rounds so a poor start to the final may doom your medal chances while a late collapse on the final few shots may take you from gold to bronze but still give you a medal. This format should be more exciting for viewers.

Schedule:

All Times ET
Saturday, August 6th
7:30 AM – Women’s 10m Air Rifle – Qualification
9:30 AM – Women’s 10m Air Rifle – Final
12 PM – Men’s 10m Air Pistol – Qualification
2:30 PM – Men’s 10m Air Pistol – Final

Sunday, August 7th
8 AM – Women’s 10m Air Pistol – Qualification
8 AM – Women’s Trap – Qualification
10 AM – Women’s 10m Air Pistol – Final
2 PM – Women’s Trap – Semifinals
2:30 PM – Women’s Trap – Semifinals

Monday, August 8th
8 AM – Men’s 10m Air Rifle – Qualification
11 AM – Men’s 10m Air Rifle – Final

Tuesday, August 9th
8 AM – Women’s 25m Pistol – Qualification – Precision
11 AM – Women’s 25m Pistol – Qualification – Rapid
2:30 PM – Women’s 25m Pistol – Semifinals
3 PM – Women’s 25m Pistol – Final

Wednesday, August 10th
8 AM – Men’s 50m Pistol – Qualification
8 AM – Men’s Double Trap – Qualification
11 AM – Men’s 50m Pistol – Final
2 PM – Men’s Double Trap – Semifinals
2:30 PM – Men’s Double Trap – Final

Thursday, August 11th
8 AM – Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position – Qualification
11 AM – Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position – Qualification

Friday, August 12th
8 AM – Men’s 50m Rifle Prone – Qualification
8 AM – Women’s Skeet – Qualification
8:30 AM – Men’s Skeet – Qualification Day 1
10 AM – Men’s 50m Rifle Prone – Final
11:15 AM – Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Qualification Stage 1
2 PM – Women’s Skeet – Semifinals
2:30 PM – Women’s Skeet – Final

Saturday, August 13th
8 AM – Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Qualification Stage 2
8:30 AM – Men’s Skeet – Qualification Day 2
11:30 AM – Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Final
2 PM – Men’s Skeet – Semifinals
2:30PM – Men’s Skeet – Final

Sunday, August 14th
8 AM – Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Position – Qualification
12 PM – Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Position – Final

Past Results:

This group of athletes for the US is fairly decorated with seven golds and 13 medals between them. Kim Rhode is clearly the most decorated with three golds and a silver and bronze in her five Olympics including gold in London. Vincent Hancock has won gold in the last two Olympics. Matt Emmons won bronze in London but took silver in Beijing and gold in Sydney. Glenn Eller won gold in Beijing, Corey Cogdell-Unrein won bronze in 2008, and Milev won silver 20 years ago in Atlanta competing for Bulgaria.

Overall the US is the all-time leader with 107 medals including 53 golds (more than the next two countries combined). The medal haul from London was three goals and a bronze.