Changwon 2026 Worlds: Rifle shooting stars to follow

The action at the Changwon 2026 WSPS World Championships kicks off this week, and it is time to look at the stars of one of the sport’s most competitive areas: rifle shooting. Competition runs from 10 to 15 September at the Changwon International Shooting Range.

Nine individual rifle titles will be contested in Changwon:

R1 – Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing  
R2 – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing  
R3 – Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1  
R4 – Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2  
R5 – Mixed 10m Rifle Prone SH2  
R6 – Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1  
R7 – Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1  
R8 – Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1  
R9 – Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH2

The Changwon 2026 World Championships will be streamed live on the ISSF YouTube channel. The rifle programme opens with the R1, R2 and R4 finals on the first day of competition.

Below are some of the rifle stars to follow in Changwon:

Avani Lekhara (India)

A national icon in India, Lekhara is a two-time Paralympic champion and three-time Paralympic medallist in rifle events, with back-to-back R2 golds. Despite her success, she is still chasing her first WSPS World Championships medal.

Changwon marks her return to the Worlds after four years, having missed Lima 2023. Her Worlds debut also came in Korea, at Cheongju 2018. She knows the Changwon range well, having competed at three World Cups there and claimed gold in 2022.

Changwon 2026 events: R2 and R8.

Alexandre Galgani (Brazil)

An experienced competitor who debuted at Suhl 2014 and made his first Paralympic appearance at Rio 2016, Galgani made history at Paris 2024 by becoming the first Latin American athlete to medal in shooting Para sport with his R5 silver.

Changwon will be his first World Championships since that breakthrough podium. He is also the Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games R4 champion and R5 silver medallist.

Changwon 2026 events: R4, R5 and R9.

Cuiping Zhang (China)

The most successful active shooting Para sport athlete in Paralympic history, Zhang has 12 Paralympic medals, including five golds. Her titles include three R8 crowns (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), one R6 gold (Rio 2016) and one R2 gold (London 2012). She added R8 bronze at Paris 2024.

Zhang turns 39 on 27 September and will be aiming to celebrate with another world medal. She debuted at Zagreb 2010 and has three individual Worlds podiums, but only one gold — won 12 years ago in Suhl.

Changwon 2026 events: R2, R3, R6 and R8.

Jinho Park (Korea)

No male rifle athlete left Paris 2024 with more gold medals than Park. The Korean star won the R1 and R7 titles, adding to his R3 silver and R1 bronze from Tokyo 2020. He is also the defending R1 world champion from Lima 2023.

Changwon is a special venue for him: he set the R6 world record (252.3) there at the 2024 World Cup and collected four medals at last year’s edition, including R1 and R7 golds.

Changwon 2026 events: R1, R3, R6 and R7.

Natascha Hiltrop (Germany)

Germany waited 17 years for a Paralympic shooting gold after Athens 2004, until Hiltrop delivered with her R3 victory at Tokyo 2020. Already a Rio 2016 R3 bronze medallist, she added R8 silver in Tokyo and then claimed double gold at Paris 2024 (R6 and R8).

Her Worlds debut came at Zagreb 2010, but her first individual medal arrived nine years later at Sydney 2019 (R6 silver and R8 bronze). She has since added five more Worlds medals across Al Ain 2022 and Lima 2023, but is still searching for her first individual world title.

Changwon 2026 events: R3, R6 and R8.

Veronika Vadovicova (Slovakia)

Second only to Zhang among active athletes, Vadovicova is one of the sport’s greats, with five Paralympic golds and eight total medals. Her latest came at Paris 2024, where she won the R3 title.

She holds both the qualification record (629.4) and world record (252.0) in R3, as well as the R2 qualification record (629.4). A Zagreb 2010 debutant, she won her first world title at Suhl 2014 and has since added five more (two at Cheongju 2018, two at Al Ain 2022, and one at Sydney 2019). Lima 2023 was the only Worlds where she did not win an individual title.

Changwon 2026 events: R2, R3, R6 and R8.

Dragan Ristic (Serbia)

A Zagreb 2010 debutant, Ristic won silver at Suhl 2014 and claimed his first world title at Cheongju 2018 (R5). The Sydney 2019 R9 world champion, he has become the dominant force in the event, winning back-to-back Paralympic titles at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

He also set the R9 qualification record (631.9) at home during the Novi Sad World Cup last July. Ristic is the Tokyo R5 champion as well.

Changwon 2026 events: R5 and R9.