Skeet 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. 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.
