2026 European Air Weapons Championship

The 2026 European Air Weapons Championship was held in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, from 27 February to 5 March 2026. The event, hosted at the Karen Demirchyan Complex, welcomed more than 350 athletes from 40 national federations.

The championship began with an opening ceremony on 27 February. During the ceremony, the flag of the European Shooting Confederation (ESC) was presented to the President of the Armenian Shooting Federation by Bulgarian athlete Tea Ilieva. The opening was attended by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Janna Andreasyan, and ESC President Alexander Ratner.

On the first days of competition, Anton Aristarkhov of the AIN team won gold in the men's 10 metre air pistol event, German Robin Walter took silver, and Swiss Jason Solari claimed bronze. In the men's air pistol team event, Italy secured first place, Türkiye second place and Serbia third place.

In the women's 10 metre air pistol individual event, Hungarian Veronika Major won gold, and Hungary also topped the team standings. In the mixed air rifle team final, the Norwegian pair of Jeanette Hegg Duestad and Jon-Hermann Hegg emerged victorious. In the moving target discipline, Armenian athletes achieved strong results and rose to the top of the medal standings in the early days of the competition.

^{Elif Duygu Eren Kotoş (AA)}

On 2 March, in the women's 10 metre air rifle final, Norwegian Pernille Nor-Woll scored 253.7 points, breaking the European record and winning gold. In the same category, German Anna Janssen took silver, while Turkish athlete Elif Duygu Eren Kotoş won bronze with 230.6 points.

This achievement marked Türkiye's first European Championship medal in this discipline at the senior level. On the same day, the Turkish Women's 10 Metre Air Rifle Team consisting of Elif Duygu Eren Kotoş, Damla Köse and Elif Berfin Altun scored a total of 1895.5 points to claim silver, securing Türkiye's first-ever European second place in this category in the history of Turkish shooting.

On 3 March, during the championship, International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President Luciano Rossi visited the event. Rossi presented a special recognition award to Arthur Hovhannisyan, President of the Armenian Shooting Federation, and General Secretary Areg Saribekyan for their successful organization of the championship.

^{Damla Köse (AA)}

On the fourth day of the event, in the women's 10 metre air rifle individual discipline, Turkish athlete Damla Köse equaled the European record in the qualification round with 56 points, then defeated Swiss Vivien Joy Jaeggi 15-14 in the gold medal match to become European champion. Köse became the first Turkish athlete to win a gold medal in the senior category of the rifle discipline. In the same competition, German Hanna Buehlmeyer won bronze.

Also on 4 March, in the men's 10 metre air pistol trio event, the Turkish team composed of İsmail Keleş, Yusuf Dikeç and Buğra Selimzade defeated Ukraine 17-11 in the final to win gold, securing their third consecutive European title in this category.

^{İsmail Keleş (right), Yusuf Dikeç (left) and Buğra Selimzade (center) (AA)}

Throughout the championship, Yusuf Dikeç and Şevval İlayda Tarhan won silver in the mixed 10 metre air pistol team event, while Şevval İlayda Tarhan, Şimal Yılmaz and Esra Bozabalı claimed bronze in the women's 10 metre air pistol trio category. At the conclusion of the championship, the Turkish team finished with a total of seven medals: two gold, three silver and two bronze.

Following the competitions, on 5 March 2026, Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak issued an official message of congratulations to the Turkish athletes who won medals at the European Air Weapons Championship and achieved historic firsts for the country.

^{National shooters who won seven medals at the European Air Weapons Championship were welcomed at Esenboğa Airport (AA)}