Learn › Track 06 · Competing
Penalties & cards
Two athletes break the rules on the same morning. One walks onto the line in jeans, in full view of every official. The other uses a pistol modified in a way nobody could spot without taking it apart.
Think first: Should the two be treated the same way?
- Yes: a rule is a rule
- No: the visible one gets a warning first; the hidden one is disqualified at once
- No: the visible one is worse, because everyone saw it
- Neither is penalised unless someone protests
Three cards
Officials show penalties with coloured cards. The colour tells everyone — you, your coach, the scorers — what has just happened.
Yellow card: a warning. Nothing comes off your score.
Green card: a 2-point deduction.
Red card: disqualification (DSQ) from the event.
Yellow = warning; green = 2-point deduction; red = disqualification. Open violations: warning, then deduction, then DSQ. Concealed violations: immediate DSQ. A false explanation to officials costs 2 points.
Where 2 points disappear
Two points sound small. But when the last place in a final can be decided between athletes on the same total, 2 points is a lot. These are the ways to lose them.
| Situation | Rule |
| A shot between the end of sighting and match START | RB 6.11.1.1 |
| Releasing air without a pellet before preparation time (after a warning) | RB 6.11.2.1 |
| Each extra shot beyond the number allowed (the shot is also annulled) | RB 6.11.5 |
| A sighter fired onto another athlete’s match target | RB 6.11.6 |
| Verbal coaching on the firing line (after a warning) | RB 6.12.5 |
| A false explanation to officials | RB 6.12.6 |
| Arriving late for a final | RB 6.17.1 |
| A protest that fails | RB 6.16 |
Think first: An athlete loses count and fires 62 competition shots instead of 60. How many points come off?
Which series pays
A deduction has to come off somewhere. It is taken from the series in which the violation happened. If it can't be tied to one series, it comes off the first competition series, against its lowest match shots (RB 6.14.7).
Disqualification, and something worse
A red card ends your event. It can come from three steps up the ladder, from a concealed violation, from failing an equipment check, or from an unsafe shot. A DSQ applies to the event where it happened.
A DQB is wider. It is given for unsportsmanlike behaviour and removes you from every event at that championship, not just the one in progress. A disqualification for an anti-doping violation reaches just as far.
Think first: An athlete is given a DQB during the men’s air pistol. The mixed team event at the same championship is two days later. Can they shoot it?
- Yes: penalties apply event by event
- Yes, but with 2 points off
- No: a DQB removes them from all events at that championship
- Only if their coach appeals successfully first
Staying out of trouble
Most penalties come from three things: the clock, the shot count, and talking. Know the windows of the match clock, watch your shot count on the monitor, and learn the coaching rules before your coach steps onto the field of play. When in doubt, ask a Range Officer before you act, not after.
- Yellow = warning, green = −2, red = disqualification.
- Open violations climb the ladder; concealed violations go straight to red.
- Each extra shot is annulled and costs 2 points.
- Deductions come off the series of the violation, otherwise off the first series.
- DSQ ends one event; DQB ends every event at that championship.
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