Ragnar Skanåker
Encyclopedia
Ragnar Skanåker is a Swedish
pistol
shooter who was a world-class shooter for an extremely long period. His international breakthrough came in the 1972 Olympics
, where he won the 50 m Pistol
event. He is mostly associated with this event, the only one in which he has won Olympic medals (four medals distributed over his participation in seven Olympic games, plus the 1982 World Championship
), but he also won the 1983 World Championship in 10 m Air Pistol
and, surprisingly to most, the 1978 World Championship in 25 m Standard Pistol
, with a new world record (that is still a European record). Skanåker's Swedish record in 50 m Pistol
is 583, two points over the current world record.
He has participated in Olympic games in 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996. He would have participated in Athens 2004 thanks to a special invitation from the International Olympic Committee
, but the Swedish Olympic Committee
decided not to let Skanåker participate due to insufficient results during the year. An upset Skanåker reported that he will be aiming to participate in 2008 instead, the year he turns 74.
Over the years, Skanåker has worked as a shooting coach in several countries, and designed shooting-specific equipment, sometimes in cooperation with famous weapon manufacturers such as Cesare Morini. Today, he still competes although less often at the international level. He also engages in various debates in Sweden. He also promotes the precision glasses he has designed.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
shooter who was a world-class shooter for an extremely long period. His international breakthrough came in the 1972 Olympics
Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics
This is a list of results of the Shooting competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics....
, where he won the 50 m Pistol
50 m Pistol
50 metre pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called free pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting types, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since...
event. He is mostly associated with this event, the only one in which he has won Olympic medals (four medals distributed over his participation in seven Olympic games, plus the 1982 World Championship
ISSF World Shooting Championships
The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early competitions are still seen by the organization as...
), but he also won the 1983 World Championship in 10 m Air Pistol
10 m Air Pistol
10 metre air pistol is an Olympic shooting event governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation . It is similar to 10 metre air rifle in that it is shot with 4.5 mm caliber air guns at a distance of 10 metres , and the programme consists of 60 shots within 105 minutes...
and, surprisingly to most, the 1978 World Championship in 25 m Standard Pistol
25 m Standard Pistol
25 metre standard pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events, introduced at the ISSF World Shooting Championships in 1970. It has its roots in the NRA conventional pistol competitions....
, with a new world record (that is still a European record). Skanåker's Swedish record in 50 m Pistol
50 m Pistol
50 metre pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called free pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting types, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since...
is 583, two points over the current world record.
He has participated in Olympic games in 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996. He would have participated in Athens 2004 thanks to a special invitation from the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
, but the Swedish Olympic Committee
Swedish Olympic Committee
The Swedish Olympic Committee is the Swedish National Olympic Committee . The Swedish Olympic Committee organize the Swedish participation in the Olympics, choose the participants and run the "Elitprogrammet".The committee has 35 Olympic national federations members and 12 by the IOC national...
decided not to let Skanåker participate due to insufficient results during the year. An upset Skanåker reported that he will be aiming to participate in 2008 instead, the year he turns 74.
Over the years, Skanåker has worked as a shooting coach in several countries, and designed shooting-specific equipment, sometimes in cooperation with famous weapon manufacturers such as Cesare Morini. Today, he still competes although less often at the international level. He also engages in various debates in Sweden. He also promotes the precision glasses he has designed.
Olympic results
| Olympic results | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 |
| 50 metre pistol | Gold 567 |
5th 559 |
7th 563 |
Silver 565 |
Silver Shooting at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre pistol Men's 50 metre pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. It was the first Olympic free pistol competition to feature final shooting.-Qualification round:Q Qualified for final-Final:... 564 |
Bronze Shooting at the 1992 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre pistol Men's 50 metre pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Kanstantsin Lukashyk, a 16-year-old Belarusian, unexpectedly had the pre-final lead... 566 |
25th Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre pistol Men's 50 metre pistol was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The first time decimals were used in the 50 metre pistol finals, Boris Kokorev set a new Olympic record after scoring 570 points in the qualification round and 96.4 in the final, where places 2 through 5 were... 555 |
| 10 metre air pistol | - | - | - | - | 11th Shooting at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 metre air pistol Men's 10 metre air pistol made its Olympic debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Erich Buljung equalled the world record of 590 points in the qualification round, acquiring a two-point lead over the new 50 metre champion, Sorin Babii. Neither of them performed a good final however, and Tanyu Kiryakov... 580 |
26th Shooting at the 1992 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 metre air pistol Men's 10 metre air pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1992 Summer Olympics. This second installment of the event was won by Wang Yifu ahead of the world record holder Sergei Pyzhianov, and Sorin Babii who had established the Olympic record on the new target in the qualification... 574 |
26th Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 metre air pistol Men's 10 metre air pistol was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The defending champion, Wang Yifu, set an Olympic record of 587 points in the qualification round, taking a two-point lead. His lead increased during the final up to the last shot, where he scored a mere... 575 |
| 25 metre rapid fire pistol | - | - | 31st 579 |
34th 577 |
- | - | - |
External links
- Official website
- Skanåker's profile at ISSF NEWS SOK stoppar Skanåker from SVT.seSveriges TelevisionSveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...