Athletes Prepare for Shooting World Championships

Athletes around the globe are preparing for the 2010 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Shooting World Championships which will begin one week from today.

From 16-24 July, the Paralympic Sport of Shooting will be the focus in Zagreb, Croatia, with a total of 247 athletes from 43 countries set to hit their mark at the World Championships. Korea leads with the biggest delegation of 15 athletes, followed by Great Britain with 14 athletes.

The venue Vrap?anski Potok Shooting Range will hold events in two classes (SH1 and SH2), totalling 31 medal events, including 17 individual and 14 team events. Top level athletes will be in Zagreb for the big event after having competed in several World Cups in 2009 and 2010, which took place in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Turkey.

The Prime Minister of Croatia, Ms. Jadranka Kosor, will be attending the event, giving a welcoming speech to all of the athletes. Other speakers at the Opening Ceremony will be IPC President Sir Philip Craven, the Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandic, and the President of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Croatia, Ratko Kova?ic.

Sir Philip said that the IPC is looking forward to having the 2010 IPC Shooting World Championships in Croatia.

"It will be a great opportunity for athletes with a disability in Croatia to see elite competition in their own country,” he said. “It will build further anticipation toward the London 2012 Paralympic Games, which will see Shooting on the competition roster."

With a population of almost four and a half million people, Croatia extends from the furthest eastern edges of the Alps in the northwest to the Pannonian lowlands and the banks of the Danube in the east. Organized by NPC Croatia, the 2010 IPC Shooting World Championships are the first World Championships in a sport for athletes with a disability to be held in the country.

Shooting is a test of accuracy and control, in which competitors use pistols or rifles to fire a series of shots at a stationary target. Competitions at the Paralympic Games are open to all athletes with a physical disability. There are two classes of competition, wheelchair and standing. Athletes compete in Rifle and Pistol events from distances of 10, 25 and 50m, in Men's, Women's and Mixed competitions. Shooting utilizes a functional classification system, which enables athletes from different disability classes to compete together either individually or in teams.

Shooting is governed by the IPC and co-ordinated by the IPC Shooting Technical Committee following the modified rules of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). These rules take into account the differences that exist between Shooting for the able-bodied and Shooting for persons with a disability.