Athletes compete in events from distances of 10m, 25m and 50m in men’s, women’s and mixed competition events. Of the 12 Paralympic shooting events, six are open to both women and men, three are open to women only and three are open to men only.
World Shooting Para Sport is also working to develop new discipline or events in the sport for inclusion in the sport programme, including: Para Clay Target Shooting and Visually Impaired (VI) Shooting. This is began to happen in 2018.
To best ensure an environment of fair and equal competition, Para athletes are placed in categories for competition based on their impairment, these are called ‘sport classes’. Within sport classes, athletes are grouped by the degree of activity limitation resulting from the impairment. As sports require different activities, the impact of the impairment on each sport also differs. Therefore, for classification to minimise the impact of impairment on sport performance, classification must be sport-specific.
In Para Shooting, athletes compete in 3 sport classes:
- SH1 (Pistol): athletes in this sport class have an impairment in the lower limb(s) and/or in the upper limb in the non-shooting arm. SH1 Pistol athletes are able to support the full weight of the pistol, and compete either in a standing or sitting position (from a wheelchair or shooting chair).
- SH1 (Rifle): athletes in this sport class have an impairment in the lower limb(s). SH1 Rifle athletes are able to support the full weight of the rifle, and compete either in a standing or sitting position (from a wheelchair or shooting chair).
- SH2 (Rifle): athletes in this sport class have an impairment in the upper limb(s) which prevents them from supporting the full weight of the rifle. Athletes therefore use a spring-mounted stand which helps to support the weight of the rifle; however the athlete must fully stabilise, guide and control the rifle in the aiming process. Depending on their impairment, some athletes in this class may also require an assistant to load the rifle. Many SH2 athletes also have an impairment in the lower limb(s) and so compete in a sitting position either from a wheelchair or shooting chair.
Competitions: Competition formats are very similar to able bodied (ISSF) competitions. Targets are the same dimensions and distances are the same so these events are often combined at club level. The techniques will be different of course with some athletes shooting from their wheel chair and / or using a spring support. Match timings can be different also.
