Paris Olympics: What to know and who to watch during the shooting competition

A roadmap to follow for the shooting competition during the Paris Olympics:

Athletes to Watch

—Vincent Hancock, United States: The most decorated Olympic skeet shooter of all time, Hancock has three gold medals in an event no one else has won more than once. Hancock, who aims to retire at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, already trains a new generation of U.S. shooters at his complex near Fort Worth, Texas.

—Nino Salukvadze, Georgia: At the age of 55, Salukvadze is set to become the first woman to compete in 10 Olympics when she takes part in the women’s 25-meter pistol shooting event. Salukvadze’s Olympic career began at 19 back in 1988 when she won gold for the Soviet Union.

—Amber Rutter, Britain: Rutter is aiming to compete in Paris just three months after giving birth to her first child. The two-time world champion is even more determined to make it to Paris because she was ruled out of the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19.

Storylines to Follow

—Tune in early on the first morning of the Olympics. The first gold medal of the Paris Games is set to be awarded at the shooting range. The mixed team 10-meter air rifle competition is expected to conclude at 11:50 a.m. local time on July 27, the morning after the opening ceremony. It’s a recent Olympic tradition for shooting to fire the metaphorical starting pistol on the medal rush. Yang Qian won the first gold at the Olympics in Tokyo and Ginny Thrasher of the United States had that honor in Rio de Janeiro.

—The shooting events can be a place for smaller countries to shine at the Olympics. Nineteen different nations won medals in shooting at the Tokyo Games, including a silver and bronze for the tiny country of San Marino, which is home to just over 33,000 people.

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Key Dates

Shooting begins on July 27, the day after the opening ceremony, and runs through Aug. 5. There will be at least one medal event each day.

Reigning Champions

—Men’s 10-meter air pistol: Javad Foroughi, Iran.

—Men’s 25-meter pistol: Jean Quiquampoix, France.

—Men’s 10-meter air rifle: Will Shaner, United States.

—Men’s 50-meter rifle: Zhang Changhong, China.

—Men’s trap: Jiri Liptak, Czech Republic.

—Men’s skeet: Vincent Hancock, United States.

—Women’s 10-meter air pistol: Vitalina Batsarashkina, ROC.

—Women’s 25-meter pistol: Vitalina Batsarashkina, ROC.

—Women’s 10-meter air rifle: Nina Christen, Switzerland.

—Women’s trap: Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova, Slovakia.

—Women’s skeet: Amber English, United States.

—Mixed team 10-meter air pistol: China.

—Mixed team 10-meter air rifle: China.

—Mixed team trap: Spain (not on the program in Paris).

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AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)