
This year’s Air Shooting European Championships of the European Shooting Confederation took place in Maribor, Slovenia, from March 9 to 12, 2017. The international 10 m title bouts for Rifle, Pistol and Running Target were held at the Draš sports facility and the Habakuk hotel complex. A total of 577 athletes from 46 European countries took part in the competitions. For many shooters, this was the first major sporting event in the shooting year following the Olympics. At the very forefront was a gold medal winner at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016: Christian Reiz won the European championship title with the air pistol.
The 2017 10 m European Championships were held according to the new competition rules of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) – as we previously reported. In addition, the newly created mixed competitions were featured for the excited spectators for the first time. The Mixed Team Events are the result of efforts to have greater gender equality in sport shooting and to ensure that shooting sports remain on the Olympic program.
Medal winners of Mixed Team Events:
Discipline | Medal | Name | Country |
Mixed air rifle – team | Gold | Andrea Arsovic Milutin Stefanovic | SRB |
Silver | Daria Vdovina Vladimir Maslennikov | RUS | |
Bronze | Selina Gschwandtner Maximilian Dallinger | GER | |
Mixed air pistol – team | Gold | Zorana Arunovic Damir Mikec | SRB |
Silver | Karine Pardon Mathieu Perie | FRA | |
Bronze | Vitalina Batsarashkina Vladimir Gontcharov | RUS |

New Competition at the 2017 10 m European Championships
Moreover, a new team competition format was tested at the 2017 Air Shooting European Championships as well, whereby three shooters from each country stand in parallel on the shooting line. The qualification for the medal contest is through a preliminary with 20 shots each and the semifinal. The sum of the ring score of all three shooters is always counted in the preliminary.
During the medal contest, all of the athletes on the two teams – after being announced individually – each fire their shots within 45 seconds. After every shot, two points are awarded for the overall best ring score of the teams, with each team receiving one point if there is a tie. The team that first gets to 21 points wins this innovative team competition – however, the contests held in Maribor were still unofficial.
Hungary was able to best Croatia 21:19 with the air rifle. In the air pistol discipline, Germany lost to Sweden 12:22 in a back-and-forth match. The third place in the air pistol discipline was won by Italy against France 22:16.
Results of the 2017 Air Shooting European Championships at a glance
The shooters prepared for the contests with consistent training and an iron will in order to be able to shine with top performances in their prime disciplines. This is why the previous records in a few disciplines were broken over the course of the entire competition.
New World Records at a glance:
Discipline | Old | New | Name | Country | Date |
Air rifle – men Final | 249,1 | 250,5 | Vladimir Maslennikov | RUS | 11. März 2017 |
Air pistol – men Final | 240,1 | 241,6 | Christian Reitz | GER | 10. März 2017 |
Air pistol – women Final | 240,8 | 246,9 | Zorana Arunovic | SRB | 11. März 2017 |
Running Target – men Team | 1.734 | 1,739 | Vladislav Shchepotkin Vladislav Prianishnikov Maxim Stepanov | RUS | 10. März 2017 |

In the combined medals table for all competitions, Russia undisputedly won first place with a total of 32 medals: 14 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze medals. With a total of 18 medals – 6 gold, 10 silver and 2 bronze – Ukraine took second place ahead of third-place Serbia and fourth-place Hungary. The German shooters accumulated 3 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals, earning them fifth place in the overall ranking.
All in all, 108 medals were awarded to the best athletes in the various disciplines.
Gold Medal Winners at a glance:
Discipline | Name | Country | Date |
Air rifle – men | Vladimir Maslennikov | RUS | 11. März 2017 |
Air pistol – men | Christian Reitz | GER | 10. März 2017 |
Running Target – men | Lukasz Czapla | POL | 10. März 2017 |
Running Target Mix – men | Vladislav Shchepotkin | RUS | 9. März 2017 |
Air rifle – women | Snjezana Pejcic | CRO | 10. März 2017 |
Air pistol – women | Zorana Arunovic | SRB | 11. März 2017 |
Running Target – women | Galina Avramenko | UKR | 10. März 2017 |
Running Target Mix – women | Galina Avramenko | UKR | 9. März 2017 |
Air rifle – men Team | Vladimir Maslennikov Sergey Kamenskiy Evgeny Panchenko | RUS | 11. März 2017 |
Air pistol – men Team | Nikolai Kilin Vladimir Gontcharov Artem Chernousov | RUS | 10. März 2017 |
Running Target – men Team | Vladislav Shchepotkin Vladislav Prianishnikov Maxim Stepanov | RUS | 10. März 2017 |
Running Target Mix – men Team | Vladislav Shchepotkin Vladislav Prianishnikov Maxim Stepanov | RUS | 9. März 2017 |
Air rifle – women Team | Anastasiia Galashina Yulia Karimova Daria Vdovina | RUS | 10. März 2017 |
Air pistol – women Team | Zorana Arunovic Bobana Velickovic Jasmina Milovanovic | SRB | 11. März 2017 |
Running Target – women Team | Olga Stepanova Julia Eydenzon Irina Izmalkova | RUS | 10. März 2017 |
Running Target Mix – women Team | Olga Stepanova Julia Eydenzon Irina Izmalkova | RUS | 9. März 2017 |
You can gain an overview of all event at the 2017 Air Shooting European Championships for Rifle, Pistol and Running Target in the results brochure of the event organizer.