Sergey Rikhter
Sergey Rikhter in 2012
Personal information
NicknameSerjo[1]
Born (1989-04-23) 23 April 1989
Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight80 kg (176 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryIsrael
SportSport shooting
Event10 metre air rifle
ClubMaccabi Ra'anana Shooting Club[1]
Coached byGuy Starik and Evgeny Aleynikov
Medal record
Men's shooting
Representing  Israel
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Minsk Men's 10m Air Rifle
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Baku Men's 10m Air Rifle
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Odense Men's 10m Air Rifle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hamar Mixed 10m Air Rifle
Silver medal – second place 2021 Osijek Men's 10m Air Rifle
Silver medal – second place 2023 Tallinn Mixed 10m Air Rifle
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Wrocław Men's 10m Air Rifle

Sergey Rikhter (Hebrew: סרגיי ריכטר; Russian: Серге́й Рихтер; born 23 April 1989) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli Olympic sport shooter.[2]

He shares the junior world record in the 10 metre air rifle, and was the 2009 ISSF World Cup champion. He competed on behalf of Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal in the 2013 European Championship and was named European Champion at 10 m. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 European Games for Israel, and the gold medal at the 2019 European Games for Israel in the Men's 10m Air Rifle.

Early life

Rikhter was born on 23 April 1989, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union, and now lives in Rehovot, Israel. He is Jewish and an Israeli citizen.[3][4] Rikhter attended Wizo High School, in Rehovot.[1]

Shooting career

A typical 10 m match air rifle

He began shooting in 2002, at 13 years of age, as part of a Gadna (Israel Defense Forces youth corps) program.[3][5] He then trained with Hapoel Rehovot.[5]

Rikhter trains at the Herzliya firing range, and is now a member of Maccabi Ra'anana.[3][5] He is right-handed, and his "master eye" is his right eye.[6] He is coached by Israeli three-time Olympian Guy Starik and Evgeny Aleynikov.[3][5][1] His club is Maccabi Ra'anana Shooting Club.[1]

2003-12; Early years

Rikhter won a gold medal at 20 years of age at the 10 metre air rifle men's final of the 2009 ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany.[7][8][9] His qualification score of 599 points was one point short of the world record, and tied the junior world record.[7][10] He won with 701.7 points.[7] Rikhter said after the match: “This is exciting, I did not expect to finish on the highest step of the podium. This is my fourth time in an international competition!”[7] He was signed to the German shooting team Kolber that same year.[5]

In February 2010, he won the gold medal in the IWK Air Gun competition men's 10 metre air rifle match in Munich.[11] In June 2010, he came in fourth in the men's 10 metre air rifle final at the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia, missing the bronze medal by one-tenth of a point.[12] In June 2011, he was ranked fifth in the world by the ISSF.[5]

He competed in the September 2011 ISSF World Cup final in the men's 10 metre air rifle.[13] He received a two-point deduction for being late to the final, which moved him down from second and a silver medal, to seventh place.[14] He won a silver medal at the 2011 Changwon, South Korea, World Cup, with 597 points, becoming the first Israeli athlete to qualify for the London Olympics.[3][5]

In April 2012, he won the silver medal in the 2012 Shooting World Cup in London, in men's 10 metre air rifle. His 701.1 points were a personal record.[15]

Rikhter competed on behalf of Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in men's 10 metre air rifle, having qualified by earning a quota place.[16][17] He missed the finals by one point, coming in 9th out of 30 competitors, with 8 shooters making it into the final.[18][19] After the Olympics, he planned to complete his military service, and to study graphic design.[5]

2013-18; European champion

In March 2013, he won a gold medal in the European Championship in Odense, Denmark, and was named European Champion at 10 m.[20][21] In April 2013, he won a silver medal at a 2013 World Cup tournament in Changwon, South Korea.[20][22] In 2013 and 2014 he also won bronze medals at World Cup tournaments in Fort Benning, Georgia.[22]

On 16 June 2015, he took the bronze medal at the 2015 European Games for Israel in the Men's 10m Air Rifle.[23]

He competed for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics, coming in 14th out of 30 competitors in the Men's 10-meter air rifle competition with a score of 623.28 points, and coming in 15th out of 30 competitors with a score of 622.6 in the Men's 50m rifle prone competition.[24][25]

2019-present; European champion

On 24 June 2019, he took the gold medal at the 2019 European Games for Israel in the Men's 10m Air Rifle.[26]

2023; Withdrawal from competition

In 2023, Rikhter withdrew from international competition in Jakarta after the ISSF refused to allow him to compete with any symbols representing Israel.[27][28] In order to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, athletes are required to compete in a series of four World Cup meets, of which Jakarta is the first in this cycle. Reportedly, World Cup organizers informed Richter and the Israeli federation they would only allow him to participate with his weapon if he competes with identification symbols of the ISSF or the flag of the International Olympic Committee. Richter rebuffed the ISSF and chose not to compete in the World Cup, in part stating,

I will never accept to participate in a competition without the [IOC Country Code] ISR on my competition suit, on my personal rifle and on the results screen…I start the most important year on the way to Paris, when my opponents take a professional advantage over me due to political problems. If the Olympic movement, which advocates the existence of sports without distinctions of nationality, religion, race and sex, does not support its ideology, then what is its value? I don't understand how the state is allowed to organize some sort of competition with a national identity restriction.[28]

Current world record in 10 m air rifle

Current world records held in 10 m Air Rifle
Junior Men Individual 599  Cheon Min-ho (KOR)
 Zhu Qinan (CHN)
 Zhu Qinan (CHN)
 Sergy Rikhter (ISR)		 24 April 2004
16 August 2004
30 October 2004
16 May 2009		 Athens (GRE)
Athens (GRE)
Bangkok (THA)
Munich (GER)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Baku 2015 1St European Games – Athletes – RICHTER Sergey". Baku 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ↑ "European Championship 10m; Brescia, Italy, 1.3.2011 – 7.3.2011" (PDF). echbrescia2011.it. 2 March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Portrait of the shooter; Rikhter, Sergy – ISR". International Shooting Sport Federation. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 December 2003. Retrieved 22 November 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Talshir, Uri (23 October 2011). "Aiming high". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "ISSF". International Shooting Sport Federation. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Marco Dalla Dea (16 May 2009). "Air Rifle Men – Rikhter brought Israel's flag on the podium". Shooting.by. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Chinese Shooters Suffer Mini-Waterloo in Munich World Cup". English.cri.cn. 17 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "10m Air Rifle Men". Issf-sports.org. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "ISSF World Cup Munich: medal standings and records". Archerfish.org. 20 May 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  11. ↑ "IWK in Munich – The Rifle and Pistol season starts from here". Archerfish.org. 6 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  12. ↑ MDD (28 June 2010). "10m Air Rifle Men – Campriani claimed Gold". ISSF. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  13. ↑ "ISSF World Cup Final; 10m Air Rifle Men; Wroclaw" (PDF). 22 September 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "Zhu set a new 10m Air Rifle Men final world record". Issf-sports.org. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "Israeli sharpshooter wins World Cup silver". ynet. 22 April 2012.
  16. ↑ Lancman, Rory (17 July 2011). "Israeli swimmers earn a spot at 2012 Summer Olympics". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  17. ↑ "ISSF World Cup Changwon: Day 1". USA Shooting. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  18. ↑ "Israeli Swimmer Sets National Record at Olympics". Algemeiner.
  19. ↑ "Olympics-Men's shooting 10m air rifle qualification results". Reuters. 30 July 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Israeli marksman snags silver medal". The Times of Israel.
  21. ↑ "Israeli sharpshooter wins gold in Europe". The Times of Israel.
  22. 1 2 "ISSF – International Shooting Sport Federation". issf-sports.org.
  23. ↑ "Second gold for Belarus at Baku 2015 European Games". belta.by. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Olympics-Shooting-Men's 50m rifle prone qualification results"
  25. ↑ "Israeli judoka Sagi Muki one win away from Olympic medal", The Jerusalem Post
  26. ↑ "European Games 2019 Day 4: As it happened".
  27. ↑ Ghermezian, Shiryn (1 February 2023). "Israeli Olympic Shooter Pulls Out of World Cup After Being Told He Cannot Compete With Israeli Symbols". algemeiner.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  28. 1 2 Douillet, Claudine (1 February 2023). "Le tireur olympique israélien,Sergey Richter, se retire de la compétition de la Coupe du monde" [Israeli Olympic shooter Sergey Richter withdraws from World Cup competition]. alliancefr.com (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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