European 25/50m shooters descend on Poland chasing Olympic dream

While the 2022 European Shotgun Championships continue in Larnaca, Cyprus, another blue ribbon shooting event with places in Paris up for grabs is taking place in a very different European city. Wrocław is the capital of Poland's southwestern Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with about 650,000 people calling it home. The city will be hosting the 2022 European 25m/50m Shooting Championships, with places at the 2024 Olympic Games on the line. Hosted at the shooting range of Polish top-flight football club Śląsk Wrocław, which also has top-tier teams in women's football and handball as well as being the reigning Polish basketball champion.

The top two places (with the stipulation that the same country can't win both places) in four events will earn a spot for their country at the 2024 Olympics: the 50m Rifle 3 Positions for both genders, the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol and the Women's 25m Pistol. The first week of competition will be dedicated to junior competitions which do not earn quota places, but preliminary competition for the Olympic events starts on 12 September for all events apart from the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions, which starts on 13 September. On 14 September, the finals will take place: firstly the Women's 25m Pistol at 11:00 local time, before the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol at 17:00 and the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at 19:00. The Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final will take place on 15 September at 17:00.

It is too early for a start list, but there is guaranteed to be a range of talent on show. At Tokyo 2020, out of the twelve medallists in these events, seven were European, although four of these were Russian and will not be competing. The other three Europeans to medal in these events were Men's Rapid Fire Pistol champion Jean Quiquampoix of France, Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions bronze medallist Milenko Sebić of Serbia, and champion in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event Nina Christen of Switzerland. While finding information on participation is not the easiest, the Swiss federation has confirmed that Christen will compete, so we will see at least one Olympic champion.

This event has a different priority than it did in the Tokyo cycle, coming first in the schedule for shooters in this event. In the Tokyo Games, it was somewhere in the middle of the calendar. The Czech Republic and Italy got a place in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions thanks to Petr Nymburský and Lorenzo Bacci, while in the Women's event it was Belarus' Maria Martynova and Denmark's Stine Nielsen. In the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol Italy's Riccardo Mazzetti and Azerbaijan's Ruslan Lunev earned a spot, while in the Women's 25m Pistol both places went to France thanks to Mathilde Lamolle and Celine Goberville, something that would be impossible this time around.