Skeet shooting
Skeet or clay pigeon shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to destroy clay disks flung into the air at high speed. The weapon of choice for this task is a high quality shotgun. The use of clay disks replaced the more traditional target of live birds, as a cheaper and more reliable alternative, one reason they are also called clay pigeons. The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting.Skeet shooting has been an Olympic event since 1896. Prominent Olympians:
- Shan Zhang - A young Chinese woman who won an upset gold medal in a mixed event in 1992. Since then there have been separate men and women's skeet events.
- Oscar Swahn - A Swedish shooter who is the oldest medal winner in Olympic history, won his first gold medal for skeet shooting at the age of 60 in 1908 and won a silver at the age of 72.
- Karoly Takacs - A right handed Hungarian shooter, who took the gold medal in the 1936 games, firing from the left, after a defective grenade shattered his right hand in an army training exercise. He would go on to medal again in the 1948 games, still using his left hand.