The next Olympic qualification event will again take place in shooting, with the World Championships (Rifle/Pistol) taking place in Cairo, Egypt. Held at the Egypt International Olympic City, a sport complex under development that will supposedly earn Africa its first Olympic Games in 2036, it will yield qualification spots for eight events: the Men’s 10m Air Rifle, 10m Air Pistol, 50m Rifle 3 Positions, and Rapid Fire Pistol, and the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, 10m Air Pistol, 50m Rifle 3 Positions, and 25m Pistol. Only one place per NOC can be earned per event at this championships, and those who have already qualified a place for their country cannot qualify a further place: this is the first event for 10m events anyway, but British athletes have not qualified in any event so far. Earning a spot for both men and women will also nab a place for the mixed team event in 10m events, where there is no separate qualifying.
British shooters traditionally specialise in shotgun events, and in Tokyo 2020, we only qualified one rifle and pistol athlete: Seonaid McIntosh in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions. However, with some talent coming through, let’s hope that we have more shooters to qualify this time.
Starting on the men’s side with the 10m Air Rifle, Dean Bale and Michael Bamsey represent GB. Bale came seventh at the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast in this event, while Bamsey came fifth. Both will find placing well in this event very difficult, however. In the 10m Air Pistol, Kristian Michael Smeeton Callaghan and James Andrew John Miller are our boys: Callaghan came 32nd in this event last time it was held in 2018, while James Miller has a European silver medal at junior level in this event (in 2020), again both are still a long way off the Olympics.
In the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Bale is joined by Michael Stephen Bargeron. Bale won bronze at Gold Coast in this event, but was knocked out in the elimination relay (pre-qualifying) at the European Championships last month. Bargeron made it to formal qualifying, where he placed 32nd. In the Rapid Fire Pistol, Callaghan is joined by Sam William Gowin: Callaghan placed 33rd in qualifying at the Europeans in Poland, but Gowin ultimately managed to make the ranking match where he came seventh overall. Qualification remains rather unlikely in these two events, however.
Moving to the women’s side and again beginning with the 10m Air Rifle, Amy Lilian Daniele Lott joins McIntosh. Lott is a mostly unknown quality, with a world ranking of 178th, but McIntosh is well-known. Specialising in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, she also entered this event in Tokyo, and placed twelfth, while having some impressive results elsewhere. However, qualification in this event may be a stretch somewhat. In the 10m Air Pistol, there are no British entrants.
In the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Katie Gleeson joins McIntosh. Top four is probably out of reach but Gleeson can hold her own in competition, with 33rd place at the European Championships last month. McIntosh disappointingly finished eighteenth at that competition and fourteenth at the Olympics, but she is the defending world champion at this event. Our best hope for Olympic qualification in non-shotgun events, McIntosh is the main woman to watch in Cairo for us. Jess Liddon is the only Brit to enter the 25m Pistol: she came 35th in Poland has a world ranking of sixty-six.
The Opening Ceremony of the event is on 13 October, with the first Olympic events being the 10m Air Rifle events which will take place entirely on 14 October, with the 10m Air Pistol events next on 15 October. The Women’s 25m Pistol begins on 21 October, with the Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol beginning on 22 October, both have their finals on 22 October. The 50m Rifle 3 Positions competitions are from 20-21 October (women) and 21-22 October (men). Finals are available to view on the ISSF’s website.
GB Games 