Last month, the skeet shooter achieved the pinnacle of success, climbing to the summit of the International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) world rankings.

He realized a long-held target after winning the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Shotgun in Nicosia, Cyprus.

"It has been my dream for long. It took years of really hard work to make it happen," Mehelba told Ahram Online in an interview.

The 31-year-old triple Olympian won the men's skeet event with a score of 36, one more than the Italian shooter Tammaro Casssandro who missed his last shot. Frenchman Eric Delaunay took bronze.

"I have been among the top ten in the ISSF world rankings for eight years now but this is the first time-ever to be world number one," he added.

"My ranking will last till the end of the year. This was the first World Cup of the season. It was fiercely competitive. All the world-class and Olympian shooters took part to get prepared for the qualifying event of the Paris Olympic Games in September.

"The weather was too cold with snow falling in Cyprus."

Mehelba was ranked fourth in the world following last year's Olympic Games in Tokyo. He then took part in the President's Cup Shotgun finals in Cypriot city Larnaca, where he finished fourth in October.

His gold medal at this year's World Cup made all the difference as he moved top in the ranking.

Mehelba won the first international gold medal in Egyptian shooting history at the 2014 World Grand Prix in Kuwait. He then made history, becoming the first Egyptian to break into the world's top ten in the country's shooting history.

New format

The International Olympic Committee's executive board has approved the competition formats for shooting at the 2024 Paris Games.

The Trap and Skeet competition format is the same that was used at the President's Cup Shotgun finals in Larnaca, the first ISSF World Cup in Nicosia, and in the second ISSF World Cup Shotgun in Lima, Peru.

"The ISSF World ranking is now very important, especially after the new amendments that were applied in shooting at the Tokyo Olympic Games and will continue in Paris 2024," Mehelba said.

"The qualification ranking for the 2024 Paris Games is based upon the shooter's individual ISSF world rankings."

Spots will be reserved for the top-ranked shooters in the ISSF world rankings. 

A shooter will need to reach a minimum Olympic qualification score set by the ISSF to reach the Olympics, unlike the old system when qualification was based on winning medals in the ISSF World Cup series, World, or continental championships.

Shooters can compete in all qualifying competitions during the qualification period, which will run from 14 August, 2022 to 9 June, 2024.

The top-ranked athletes will each give an Olympic place for their country.

The first qualifying event is the ISSF World Championship Shotgun, which will be held from 27 September 10 October in Osijek, Croatia.

"My main target this year is to qualify earlier for the Paris Games. I prefer to qualify through the world ranking quota, not through the international or continental championships," Mehelba said.

"Early qualification will give me enough time to set out my preparation plan for the Olympics."

Men and women skeet format

The competition format consists of qualification and final stages. The format of qualification for Paris 2024 is the same as that of Tokyo 2020.

The Qualification stage consists of 125 targets. It is divided into five rounds. Each round has 25 targets shot in two or three days.

The top eight shooters as per the qualification ranking and any eventual shoot-offs advance to the final stage. The final stage is divided into relay one, relay two and the medal match.

"Shooters' chances to reach the final are now much easier. The eighth highest-scorers will qualify for the final, up from six in the old formation," Mehelba commented

Each Relay includes four shooters. Relay one is composed of the athletes in positions 1, 3, 5 and 7 and Relay two features the athletes in positions 2, 4, 6, and 8. Athletes start from zero and shoot 20 targets each. The shooter with the lowest number of hits is eliminated.

The three remaining shooters shoot another 10 targets. The top two from each relay proceed to the Medal Match. The estimated time of the two Relays is approximately 60 minutes.

The Medal Match is composed of four shooters (the two winners of each relay). Athletes shoot 20 targets each. The shooter with the lowest number of hits is eliminated.

The 4th place is then decided. The remaining three shooters shoot another 10 targets. Out of the total of 30 targets, the athlete with the lowest number of hits is eliminated. The bronze medal winner is then determined.

The remaining two shooters continue with another 10 targets each to decide the gold and silver medal winners.

The winner is the shooter with the highest number of hits out of a total 40 targets in the final.

"The final competition is very difficult. Athletes have to shoot 40 targets. The shoot forgets the qualification score and starts to count from zero," Mehelba said.

"The Shooters have 30 targets to hit in semi-final and 40 in the final, which is played in a single day and without rest. It was only 60 targets in the past."

Mehelba next flies to Italy to take part in the ISSF World Shotgun, which will be held from 21-29 April.

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