Ragnar Skanåker

(Redirected from Ragnar Skanaker)

Ragnar Skanåker (born 8 June 1934) is a Swedish competitive 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 as of 2005 a European record). Skanåker's Swedish record in 50 m Pistol is 583, later a world record qualification in 2014 (Jin Jong-Oh, Korea).

Ragnar Skanåker
Ragnar Skanåker at the Swedish Sports Awards 2013
Personal information
Full nameKarl Ragnar Skanåker
Nationality Sweden
Born (1934-06-08) 8 June 1934 (age 90)
Säter, Sweden
OccupationBusinessman
Websitehttp://skanaker.se
Sport
SportPistol shooting
Now coachingAsgeir Sigurgeirsson
Medal record
Men's Shooting
Olympic Games
Representing  Sweden
Gold medal – first place 1972 Munich 50 m Pistol
Silver medal – second place 1984 Los Angeles 50 m Pistol
Silver medal – second place 1988 Seoul 50 m Pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona 50 m Pistol
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1978 Seoul 25 m standard pistol
Gold medal – first place 1982 Caracas 50 m pistol
Gold medal – first place 1983 Innsbruck 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1978 Seoul 50 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1979 Seoul 50 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1981 Santo Domingo 10 m air pistol
World Cup Final
Gold medal – first place 1993 Munich 50 m pistol
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1989 Mexico City 50 m pistol
Gold medal – first place 1992 Munich 50 m pistol
Gold medal – first place 1992 Los Angeles 10 m air pistol
Gold medal – first place 1993 Los Angeles 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1986 Mexico City 50 m pistol
Silver medal – second place 1990 Zurich 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1990 Mexico City 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1990 Suhl 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1991 Zurich 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1993 Milan II 10 m air pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Mexico City 50 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Munich 50 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Los Angeles 50 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Los Angeles 50 m pistol
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1989 Zagreb 50 m pistol
Silver medal – second place 1983 Bucharest 50 m pistol
Silver medal – second place 1988 Stavanger 10 m air pistol
Silver medal – second place 1991 Bologna 50 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Brno 50 m pistol

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 would be aiming to participate in 2008 instead, the year he turned 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 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

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Olympic results[1]
Event 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996
50 metre pistol   Gold
567
5th
559
7th
563
  Silver
565
  Silver
564
  Bronze
566
25th
555
10 metre air pistol - - - - 11th
580
26th
574
26th
575
25 metre rapid fire pistol - - 31st
579
34th
577
- - -

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ragnar Skanåker". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
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