Georgian shooters use World Cup to prepare for Rio Olympics
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Three Georgian shooters are taking part in the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Brazil, starting this weekend.
Two of the three Georgian shooters are using the five-day competition as a warm-up for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Three-time Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze, her son Tsotne Machavariani and Levan Kadagidze will represent Georgia from a group of 660 athletes from 88 countries in the ISSF World Cup. The event opened on April 13 in Rio de Janeiro.
The three shooters of the Georgian team - registered at the contest in the Europe category - will display their shooting skills in four disciplines for male and female competitors from April 16-20.
Georgian shooter Tsotne Machavariani will compete at the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio later this year. Photo from the Georgian National Olympic Committee.
Salukvadze – who has qualified to represent Georgia at the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio – will compete in the 10m Air Pistol and 25m Pistol discipline for women on April 17 and 20 respectively.
Machavariani – who also qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games – and Kadagidze will enter the 10m Air Pistol and 50m Pistol category for male competitors on April 16 and 19.
The World Cup event is being treated by athletes as a preparatory competition for the Olympic Games, which will be held in Brazil from August 5-21.
The Olympic Games are the world’s largest sporting event and this year Salukvadze and Machavariani will represent Georgia as athletes while Kadagidze will also attend the games but as coach of the Georgian shooting team. They will be among more than 10,000 contestants from 206 countries participating in the competition.
This will be the eighth time Salukvadze has participated in an Olympic Games. The Georgian shooter has claimed gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1988 competition in Seoul and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro will run until April 25. The full schedule of the competition can found here.
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