The history of the Azerbaijan Shooting Federation
It's known that competitions were held in the Middle Ages for shooting from a hunting rifle. At that time, hunters were engaged in shooting for recreational purposes, shooting at flying birds and wildfowl, and at the same time discovering the secrets of the art of hunting. Despite the protests of people concerned about environmental problems and the risks facing nature, a sport called "Hunting for doves" appeared and became popular in many countries. In many European countries, such as England, France, Germany, Italy, from the middle of the 18th century, clubs specializing in this sport were created, and they began to hold competitions among themselves. Thus, the foundations of shooting sports were laid. Clay shooting has been practiced in Azerbaijan since 1920.
The participation of our country's clay shooters in the Olympic Games began in 1988 with the Seoul Olympics. Valery Timokhin, representing our country in this sport, participated in the Olympics in Seoul and Atlanta. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in Sydney, our representative Zemfira Meftahetdinova went down in history as the most accurate clay shooter. She scored 98 points out of 100 possible, and also broke the Olympic record in the skeet shooting. After the election of General Vagif Akhundov as President of the Azerbaijan Shooting Federation, interest in this sport increased even more. The material and technical base of the Federation has been strengthened.