Learn › Track 08 · Road to the Olympics
Minimum Qualification Score
Your NOC holds a men’s air pistol place for LA28 and is looking for someone to fill it. You shot 571 at your national championship last month, a personal best. You have never shot 565 at an ISSF event.
Think first: Can your NOC enter you for LA28?
- Yes. 571 is above the men’s MQS of 565.
- No. The MQS must be shot at an approved ISSF event inside the qualification window.
- Yes, if your national federation certifies the score
The numbers
For LA28 the MQS is 565 for men and 560 for women, confirmed on 19 June 2026. It is a 60-shot qualification score in whole rings.
565 is 9.42 per shot. That is roughly 94 in every 10-shot series, for six series in a row. It is a serious score, but well below what it takes to reach an Olympic final. Drag the slider to see where your own scores sit.
Where and when it counts
The MQS must be shot in the qualification or elimination round of one of these:
a World Championship
a World Cup or the World Cup Final
a Grand Prix
a continental championship or continental qualifying event
And it must be shot inside the window: 31 Jul 2026 to 1 May 2028.
Think first: You shoot 567 at a Grand Prix in March 2026. Does it count as your MQS?
- Yes. A Grand Prix is on the list.
- No. The window had not opened yet.
- Only if you repeat it at a World Cup
An entry ticket, not a place
The MQS is an entry requirement. It is not a quota place. To start at LA28 you need both: a place held by your NOC, and the MQS on your own record.
Think first: A woman shoots 561 in qualification at a 2027 World Cup and finishes 30th. What has she achieved for LA28?
- A quota place for her NOC
- Her MQS. She can now be entered if her NOC has a place and selects her.
- Nothing, because she did not make the final
The MQS also appears inside the quota rules. The result that wins a quota place must itself reach the MQS.
Think first: At a continental championship a woman finishes in a quota position, but her qualification score is 558. Does her result win the place?
- Yes. Finishing position is what matters.
- No. The quota-winning result must itself reach the MQS, 560 for women.
- Yes, if she reaches the MQS later in the window
The MQS also opens the host place. The USA gets one place per event if a US athlete has the MQS and the USA has not qualified any other way.
MQS 565 men, 560 women. Shot in qualification or elimination at a World Championship, World Cup, World Cup Final, Grand Prix or continental event between 31 Jul 2026 and 1 May 2028. The quota-winning result must itself be at or above the MQS.
- MQS: 565 for men, 560 for women. That is about 9.4 per shot.
- It only counts at listed ISSF events, between 31 Jul 2026 and 1 May 2028. National scores do not count.
- The MQS is an entry requirement, not a place. You need the MQS and a place held by your NOC.
- A result that wins a quota place must itself reach the MQS.