Joint IPC Shooting and ISSF visit to Rio ‘encouraging’

“We were encouraged by our joint site visit with the ISSF to the venue for shooting competitions during Rio 2016 and felt that the organisers are working towards making shooting competitions at the Paralympic Games the best yet”

Members of IPC Shooting joined the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) on a visit to the shooting venue for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in January, in a delegation that included ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber.

The group included Sarah Bond, IPC Shooting Sport Manager and Ghislaine Briez, the shooting para-sport Technical Delegate for Rio 2016 as well as two ISSF Technical Delegates for rifle, pistol and shotgun events, ISSF Vice Presidents Gary Anderson and Medhat Wahdan.

The visit agenda included meetings with Alberto Guimãmares, Rio 2016 Executive Director of Sport, and key members of the Rio 2016 Sports Department staff, and discussions on the competition schedule, ticketing, transport, logistics, technology, entries, media and communications, Test Event, accommodation, National Technical Officials and sports presentation.

“We were encouraged by our joint site visit with the ISSF to the venue for shooting competitions during Rio 2016 and felt that the organisers are working towards making shooting competitions at the Paralympic Games the best yet”, Ghislaine Briez said.

“London 2012 raised the profile of shooting para-sport to new fans and media and we are also making great strides towards Rio 2016 having the biggest numbers of shooters we have ever seen at a Games.”

ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said: “During our visit in Rio de Janeiro we discussed several areas of the organisation of Rio 2016.

“We received reports and presentations from the Organising Committee (OC) staff, which led to positive talks and agreements. There is still time to solve open issues, and we are confident that the OC will work in the best way to deliver an excellent Olympic experience to our athletes and shooting fans during the 2016 Games.”

The delegation inspected the National Shooting Centre (NSC) and the installations that will be used for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which was constructed as the venue for the 2007 Pan American Games. The NSC also hosted the 2008 ISSF World Cup in rifle and pistol events, the 2010 Shooting Championship of the Americas and the shooting events of the 2011 CISM World Games. The venue, which is a part of the Olympic and Paralympic cluster of Deodoro, is being renovated for the Rio 2016 Games.

"We've been inspecting the National Shooting Center of Rio, and the installations that will be used for the 2016 Olympic Games. With more than two years to go to the Opening of the Games, there is still a lot of work to be done, but we were generally quite satisfied with most aspects of the preparations." ISSF Vice-President Gary Anderson said.

The next stop on the road to Rio for shooters is the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl, Germany. Featuring 250 athletes from 45 countries, the competition will take place from 17-26 July.