TargetTalk

not a misogynist but I wonder if women can run triathlons, marathons, lift heavy weights in olympics, why are they only asked to shoot 40 shots instead of 60 in AP

I think the real mental strength is checked only after 40-60 shots .

Probably for the same reason they play best of three sets in tenni however command the same prize money as men playing best of five.

I thought part of it was was so that women's and men's scores could never be comparable, so some guys with fragile egos from backward countries wouldn't get butt-hurt if they were beaten by a woman.

Sparky got it in one. He doesn't have to shoot next to Brenda Silva like us local guys, though. Ruby Fox drops by once in a while, too.

sparky wrote:I thought part of it was was so that women's and men's scores could never be comparable, so some guys with fragile egos from backward countries wouldn't get butt-hurt if they were beaten by a woman.

Sounds about right.

If records were kept of shot order at competitions it would be interesting to go back and compare all the women's results with men's for the first 40 shots.

"some guys with fragile egos from backward countries wouldn't get butt-hurt if they were beaten by a woman"

And here I thought they enjoyed that kind of stuff....

The men's course of fire used to be 40 shots, right?

I believe the actual answer goes back a few decades, maybe more.

It is my understanding that either an IOC or UIT rule states that in the case of events separated for men and women there must be a difference in the event. Therefore if there is to be women's events, the men and women can't shoot the same course of fire. After 1972 the IOC removed the 300 m event and eventually replaced it with the air events and women's events. And consequently women's rifles and pistols are different and women's course of fire is different.

As to shooting better or worse that women, any one who cares more about the sex of the shooter they lost to than they do about losing is just that a loser.

Now time to go practice air.

gwsb wrote:It is my understanding that either an IOC or UIT rule states that in the case of events separated for men and women there must be a difference in the event. Therefore if there is to be women's events, the men and women can't shoot the same course of fire.

I would think that whether gender division were the same of different would be up to the governing body of the sports involved, not the IOC. Some Olympic disciplines are identical for men and women.

Track for example is identical for men and women.

IMO, there should probably be a push to make the disciplines identical.

But, there's plenty of reason to keep the genders separate for competition in many sports.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... 7b49d9acdb

But sports are the ultimate contrivances: Take agreed-upon rules, add meaning.

If you look back in Olympic history, there was one historic event where men and women did compete TOGETHER.

That was the shotgun event in Barcelona 1992.

Men got the ass whipped. Or stoked.

IOC men promptly came up many reasons to separate men from the women.

Many reasons.

http://www.pagunblog.com/2016/08/10/seg ... ng-sports/

Women have big hips, that give them unfair advantage. No soup for you, no competition for you next time !

Margaret Murdock of the USA won a silver medal in 50m free rifle in the 1976 Olympics. They hadn't considered the possibility that a woman could compete, so there was no rule against it. She actually tied the Gold medal score (shot by Lanny Bassham, also USA), but lost the Gold due to the tie breaking rules. Bassham had requested a tie breaking series, but it wasn't allowed. At the awards ceremony, Lanny hauled Margaret up onto the top tier of the podium:



They changed the rules immediately to prevent women from competing in the same events.

Reason probably is men do not want to be embarrassed. My experience has been if women and men devote the same time to practice the woman will win in competition about 60% of the time. Your mileage might vary.

Chip

Here is something to consider when comparing performances between men and women.
I have taken the results from Air Pistol scores in 3 Open competitions over the past couple of months.

I looked at the scores for A and B Grades only, as these shooters have a high level of competency and usually shoot reasonably consistent scores. I eliminated any scores which were significantly lower, e.g., shooter probably having a "bad" day.

Men: 25 competitors. First 4 scoring series (40 shots), average shot value 8.66. Match (60 shots), average shot value 8.67.
Women: 16 competitors. Match (40 shots), average shot value 8.49.

Highest series scores:
16 of the men scores their highest scores in series 4 and 5.
7 of the women scored their highest scores in series 2.
Lowest series scores:
13 of the men scored their lowest scores in series 1 and 2.
8 of the women scored their lowest scores in series 1.

Thoughts? Minimal difference in shot values over 40 shots. As the women generally scored their lowest scores in series 1, there is a good chance that their 60 shot scores would not be much different to the men. Perhaps even better, as the mental side becomes more critical the women could have an advantage.
Try some mixed 60 shot matches at your Club and see what happens.

Oh, we do. We usually get our asses kicked by Brenda Silva.

Didn't Margaret win a 300 M free rifle title some time in the past, I vaguely remember it happened at a World Cup.

Murdock won all sorts of medals along the way:

http://www.usashooting.org/alumni-assoc ... on-murdock

Warning: the list of "Competition Highlights" appears to be a cut & paste error from an older shooter. It claims she won an Olympic gold medal at the age of six...

However, the list of accomplishments that follows (with photos) has plenty of good info.