Another exciting month of international and domestic competition and exciting announcements has come to a close. Let’s recap April’s events and have a look at what’s coming up. Plus, some useful information and resources!
This month Shooting Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Adam Sachs, announced the High Performance Strategy for the LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond.
Shooting Australia’s LA 2028+ High-Performance Strategy has been developed with significant input from key stakeholders from both within and outside Shooting, including the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The plan builds on the learnings from the Paris cycle and sets evidence-based performance targets that Shooting Australia will work towards achieving over the next four years.
The AIS’ confidence in Shooting Australia’s LA 2028+ Strategy is reflected in its decision to not only continue, but to increase the Federal Government’s investment in Shooting between now and the LA 2028 Games, which will create better opportunities and support for athletes to grow their performances and realise their Olympic/Paralympic dreams.
To read the CEO address and learn more about Shooting Australia’s LA 2028+ High Performance Strategy, read the full story on our website.
Over the course of the last month, 8 Australian athletes have competed in back-to-back ISSF World Cups in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Lima, Peru.
The team, which consisted of one rifle athlete and 7 shotgun athletes, achieved outstanding results across both World Cup events, including two gold medals, one silver medal and seven finals appearances. This success marks an impressive start to Australia’s 2025 World Cup campaign.
Across both events, Penny Smith won three medals, including an individual gold medal in the Women’s Trap competition in Buenos Aires and two Trap Mixed Team Medals, with her teammate Mitch Iles. Smith and Iles took home silver in the Trap Mixed Team event at the Buenos Aires World Cup, before winning gold in the same event just two weeks later at the Lima World Cup.
Iles also made an individual finals appearance in Buenos Aires, in the Men’s Trap competition, where he finished 6th.
Australian rifle athlete, Jack Rossiter, also progressed to the finals at the Buenos Aires World Cup, where he qualified third in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle competition after shooting a score of 633.4. Rossiter placed 6th overall in the finals.
Kiara Dean progressed to her first senior World Cup final in the Women’s Trap competition in Peru, where she finished 6th overall.
This month, Shooting Australia announced the appointment of Adam Hosking as the Shotgun Program Manager.
Hosking was appointed from a strong field of candidates through a robust selection process undertaken by a panel of senior management personnel from SA and the Australian and Victorian Institutes of Sport (AIS and VIS respectively).
Hosking has extensive experience working in high performance sporting environments as both a coach and administrator. He started and has developed his professional career in Swimming and has worked with athletes and programs in Australia and overseas. Most recently, Adam was the Manager of the VIS Archery Program.
Hosking will be based in Melbourne at the VIS and will work closely with Shotgun Performance Coach, Renae Birgan, to drive the development and success of Australia’s best Shotgun athletes and SA’s National Teams between now and the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
In April, the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) confirmed the events that will be included in the shooting sports program for the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
The program will consist of 15 events, including:
Whilst the ISSF has confirmed that all qualification formats will remain unchanged from the Paris 2024 program, it was announced that the finals formats for some events will change. These changes include:
The ISSF also confirmed that shooting will retain the same number of quota places (i.e. 340) at the LA 2028 Olympics as there were in the Paris 2024 Games. However, the process of allocating these quotas is currently being developed by the ISSF for endorsement by the IOC in the coming months.
In addition to the announcement of the shooting sports program for the 2028 Olympic Games, the ISSF has also confirmed the selected venues for shooting sports in LA.
The announcement confirms that shotgun events will be held at the world-famous LA Clays Shooting Sports Park in El Monte California, whilst pistol and rifle events will be held in a temporary indoor range at the Long Beach Convention Centre, in LA’s iconic Long Beach area.
The ISSF is optimistic that these venues will enable shooting sport athletes to get the true Olympic experience, thanks to their proximity to both the Olympic Village and other Olympic sports venues.
This month Shooting Australia announced its National Teams for upcoming international events in Cyprus, Germany and Korea.
ISSF World Cup Shotgun
The first of these team announcements saw 12 athletes selected for the upcoming ISSF Shotgun World Cup, which will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus, between the 3rd and 12th of May 2025.
ISSF Junior World Cup
Australian National Team selections for the ISSF Junior World Cup were also announced, with 12 junior athletes being selected to compete in Suhl, Germany between the 19th and 27th of May.
WSPS World Cup
The announcement of the national team that will be attending the WSPS World Cup was also made this month, with 4 Australian Para athletes set to take the stage, in Changwon, Korea, between the 28th of May and the 6th of June.
The 2025 TRA Nationals were held this month at the Wingfield Rifle Range in South Australia, between the 31st of March and the 6th of April.
The TRA Nationals was a critical competition for our rifle athletes, as it was the second (of three) 50m Prone selection event for the 2025 ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Championships.
VIEW FULL TRA NATIONALS EVENT RESULTS
The ISSF Open for Pistol was also held this month at the Whiteman Park International Pistol Club between the 25th and 27th.
VIEW FULL ISSF OPEN EVENT RESULTS
What: ISSF World Cup
Where: Nicosia, Cyprus
When: 3-12 MAY
ISSF NICOSIA WORLD CUP INFORMATION & RESULTS
What: ISSF Junior World Cup
Where: Suhl, Germany
When: 19-27 MAY
ISSF JUNIOR WORLD CUP INFORMATION & RESULTS
What: WSPS World Cup
Where: Changwon, Korea
When: 28 MAY-6 JUNE
WSPS WORLD CUP INFORMATION & RESULTS
Shooting Australia will be providing live coverage of all of the World Cups via the Shooting Australia Facebook page.
SHOOTING AUSTRALIA FACEBOOK PAGE
What – Vintage Open (Tier 2)
Where – Cessnock Pistol Club, Cessnock, NSW
When – 2-4 May
Discipline – Pistol
Selection Overlay – Nil (APS opportunity)
VINTAGE OPEN EVENT INFORMATION
What – Victorian State Titles – Shotgun (Tier 2)
Where – Echuca Clay Target Club, Echuca West, Victoria
When – 2-4 May
Discipline – Shotgun
Selection Overlay – Nil (APS opportunity)
VICTORIAN STATE TITLES (SHOTGUN) EVENT INFORMATION
What – Victorian State Titles – Rifle (Tier 2)
Where – Melbourne International Shooting Centre, Port Melbourne, Victoria
When – 2-4 May
Discipline – Rifle
Selection Overlay – Nil (APS opportunity)
VICTORIAN STATE TITLES (RIFLE) EVENT INFORMATION
What – WAGC WA Selection (Tier 2)
Where – Western Australia Gun Club, Whiteman, WA
When – 24-25 May
Discipline – Shotgun
Selection Overlay – Nil (APS opportunity)
WAGC WA SELECTION EVENT INFORMATION
What: QLD State Titles (Tier 1)
Where: Brisbane Gun Club, Belmont, QLD
When: 12-15 June
Discipline: Shotgun
Selection Overlay: ISSF Shotgun World Championships – Second selection event
QLD STATE TITLES EVENT INFORMATION
Registration for the Melbourne Para National Classification (May 1st) day has now closed. For Para athletes still looking to receive a national classification, Shooting Australia will be hosting its second and final classification day of 2025 in Brisbane on the 3rd of October.
See the flyer and link below to register.
PARA NATIONAL CLASSIFCATION DAY PAGE
2025 NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA
NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION LEADERBOARDS
ATHLETE AVERAGE PERFORMANCE SCORES
SHOOTING AUSTRALIA TV ON YOUTUBE
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Shooting Australia TV on YouTube where you will be able to re-watch domestic event coverage, hear from athletes post competition, and more! Best of all, it is free!
