The Shotgun World Cup in Rabat was officially opened today by ISSF President Luciano Rossi.
The event, for which training starts tomorrow, will be the second scheduled World Cup in a 2024 season that will culminate in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
A total of 279 athletes from 48 countries will take part in a competition that will involve men’s and women’s trap and skeet competitions and a skeet mixed team event – all of which will be on the Olympic schedule in Paris.
President Rossi arrived in the Moroccan capital after attending a hugely popular event in Ulm, Germany, where 3,000 fans watched the German Shooting Bundesliga Air Rifle/Pistol/2023/2024 Final at the Ratiopharm Arena.
He performed his duties in Rabat alongside Dr Abdeladim Lhafi, President of the Royal Moroccan Shooting Sport Federation.
Among those taking part in the Rabat World Cup will be two United States shooters who have already garnered huge Olympic successes.
The first is Vincent Hancock, winner of the men’s skeet gold at the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 Games.
Also involved at the shooting range Club Les Chênes de Tir et de Loisirs, located 18.5km from Rabat, will be Hancock’s team-mate Kimberly Rhode, who won double trap gold at the Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 Olympics before claiming gold, silver and bronze in the women’s skeet at the London 2012, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 Games respectively.
The shooting range has five combined ranges of Trap and Skeet.
The targets which will be used during this ISSF World Cup are eco-friendly from Eurotarget, standard orange for the qualification and flash orange for the finals.
The women’s and men’s trap finals will take place on Wednesday (February 7), with the women’s and men’s skeet finals scheduled for Sunday (February 11) and the final of the skeet mixed team on Monday (January 12).
All finals can be watched live on the ISSF You Tube or Facebook sites.