Ragnar Skanåker

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 name	Karl Ragnar Skanåker
Nationality	Sweden
Born	(1934-06-08) 8 June 1934 Säter, Sweden
Occupation	Businessman
Website	http://skanaker.se
Sport
Sport	Pistol shooting
Now coaching	Asgeir Sigurgeirsson
Medal record Men's Shooting Olympic Games Representing Sweden 1972 Munich 50 m Pistol 1984 Los Angeles 50 m Pistol 1988 Seoul 50 m Pistol 1992 Barcelona 50 m Pistol World Championships 1978 Seoul 25 m standard pistol 1982 Caracas 50 m pistol 1983 Innsbruck 10 m air pistol 1978 Seoul 50 m pistol 1979 Seoul 50 m pistol 1981 Santo Domingo 10 m air pistol World Cup Final 1993 Munich 50 m pistol World Cup 1989 Mexico City 50 m pistol 1992 Munich 50 m pistol 1992 Los Angeles 10 m air pistol 1993 Los Angeles 10 m air pistol 1986 Mexico City 50 m pistol 1990 Zurich 10 m air pistol 1990 Mexico City 10 m air pistol 1990 Suhl 10 m air pistol 1991 Zurich 10 m air pistol 1993 Milan II 10 m air pistol 1987 Mexico City 50 m pistol 1988 Munich 50 m pistol 1990 Los Angeles 50 m pistol 1993 Los Angeles 50 m pistol European Championships 1989 Zagreb 50 m pistol 1983 Bucharest 50 m pistol 1988 Stavanger 10 m air pistol 1991 Bologna 50 m pistol 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

Olympic results
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

• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

External links

• Official website
• Skanåker's profile at ISSF NEWS
• (in Swedish) SOK stoppar Skanåker from SVT.se