# ISSF MQS explained: minimum scores that gate entries > An ISSF MQS (Minimum Qualification Score) is the score floor an athlete must have shot at a designated qualifying competition before their federation can enter them in an Olympic event. LA 2028 brings MQS back after Paris dropped it: 613.0 in 10m air rifle, 569/567 in 3P rifle, 565/560 in air pistol. - Canonical URL: https://target-log.net/blog/issf-mqs-explained/ - Published: 2026-10-21 (updated 2026-10-21) - Category: Scoring rules - Tags: issf mqs, olympic qualification, intermediate - Read time: ~6 min ## Key takeaways - An MQS makes an athlete eligible to be entered; it does not earn an Olympic place. Quota places are separate and are won at qualifying championships. - For LA 2028, MQS scores must be shot between 31 July 2026 and 1 May 2028, in elimination or qualification rounds only, at designated ISSF and continental events. - Paris 2024 used a qualification ranking instead; the MQS system returns for Los Angeles. Every four years, a three-letter acronym ends up standing between ambitious shooters and an Olympic start list. If Los Angeles 2028 is anywhere on your horizon, that acronym is the ISSF MQS, and after Paris 2024 ran without it, the Minimum Qualification Score is back. The concept is simple once someone untangles it from the surrounding quota-place machinery, and that is what this guide does: what an MQS is, the actual numbers on the LA 2028 list, where a score has to be shot for it to count, and where the line sits between eligible and qualified. ## What exactly is an ISSF MQS? An ISSF MQS (Minimum Qualification Score) is a score floor an athlete must have shot in a designated qualifying competition before their national federation can enter them in an Olympic shooting event. It proves competitiveness; it does not itself earn a place. Think of it as the passport, not the ticket. Your federation cannot put you on the entry list for an Olympic event unless you hold a valid MQS in that event, shot within the qualifying window at the right kind of competition. Plenty of athletes hold MQS scores. Very few of them go to the Games, because the places themselves are handed out through a separate quota system, and national selections sit on top of that. An MQS answers one narrow question: is this athlete of a standard that belongs on an Olympic range? That is also why the numbers are set where they are. They are deliberately below what it takes to reach a World Cup final, because the MQS filters out unprepared entries, not potential medalists. ## What ISSF MQS scores are needed for LA 2028? The LA 2028 qualification system sets the following Minimum Qualification Scores, per event and gender: | Event | Men | Women | |---|---|---| | 10m Air Rifle (60 shots, [decimal scoring](/blog/how-issf-scoring-works/)) | 613.0 | 613.0 | | 50m Rifle [3 Positions](/blog/issf-50m-rifle-3-positions-complete-guide/) | 569 | 567 | | 10m Air Pistol | 565 | 560 | | 25m [Rapid Fire Pistol](/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-issf-25m-rapid-fire-pistol/) / 25m Pistol | 565 | 565 | | Trap | 110 | 100 | | Skeet | 112 | 106 | Two things jump out if you have followed earlier Olympic cycles. Rifle and pistol events are now fully equalized in shot count, so the 10m air rifle MQS is one number, 613.0, for everyone. And the rifle figures reflect decimal scoring in qualification, which is why air rifle reads as a decimal while the others are whole numbers. For context on where those sit relative to club-level shooting, our guide to [what counts as a good 10m air rifle score](/blog/issf-10m-score-benchmarks-what-is-a-good-score/) breaks down typical score bands by level, from first-season club shooters upward. ## Where and when does a score count as an ISSF MQS? Not every good score in your diary becomes an MQS. Under the LA 2028 system, the qualifying window runs from 31 July 2026 to 1 May 2028, and within that window an MQS can only be shot in elimination or qualification rounds of Olympic events at a specific list of competitions: - ISSF World Championships - ISSF World Cups and World Cup Finals - ISSF Grand Prix competitions - Continental championships and continental games - Specially designated qualifying competitions Read the small print there, because it trips people up. Finals do not count; the MQS has to come out of the qualifying round itself. Your national championship does not count either, unless it has been specially designated. And a score shot a week before the window opened is worth nothing for MQS purposes, however good it was. If you want to see what these competitions look like from the athlete's side, our walkthrough of [reading ISSF start lists and results](/blog/how-to-read-issf-start-lists-and-results/) shows where qualification-round scores actually appear in the paperwork. ## Does shooting an MQS mean you have qualified for the Olympics? No, and this is the distinction that confuses most people the first time they meet the system. Olympic places in shooting are quota slots allocated to federations, earned by results at ISSF qualifying championships during the cycle. The MQS sits underneath all of that as an eligibility condition: a federation cannot enter an athlete who does not hold one in the relevant event. So the realistic chain for an athlete runs: shoot the MQS, then chase quota results through your federation, then survive your federation's selection decisions. Shooting an MQS in several events widens your options, which matters now that mixed team events hand shooters a second or third way onto the range; the [ISSF team and mixed team event format](/blog/issf-mixed-team-and-team-events-explained/) is worth understanding before you plan a season around it. One per event, though. A 10m air rifle MQS does not unlock the mixed team entry on its own if the system requires it for that event too; each entry needs eligibility in the event being shot. ## Why did Paris 2024 not use an ISSF MQS? The MQS was part of every recent Olympic cycle through Tokyo 2020, where the air rifle men's floor sat at 595.0, among others. For Paris, the ISSF and IOC replaced it with a different arrangement: athletes accumulated positions in a Qualification Ranking for the Olympic Games and needed starts at a minimum number of championship-level events during the period. That system is gone again for LA 2028, and anyone who chased Tokyo-era qualification will recognize the returning format. The lesson for athletes is not to memorize any single system. The mechanism changes between cycles, and the federations always publish the definitive qualification system documents early. What stays constant is the underlying standard: international entry-level scores in the low-to-mid 600s for air rifle qualification, and equivalents elsewhere. ## What does the ISSF MQS mean for club shooters? Honest answer: most club shooters will never need an MQS. But the numbers are still useful goalposts, because they are published, standardized, and represent the floor of international entry standard rather than a podium score. A junior building a long-term plan can look at 613.0 and know exactly how far away the world stage is, in the same currency as their club card. Scoring your own qualification cards consistently, rather than eyeballing totals, is how you make that comparison real; scoring apps like [TargetLog](/issf-scoring-app/) turn a photo of the target into an ISSF-rule score you can log against such benchmarks. If the MQS ever becomes a personal goal, the practical first steps are unglamorous: shoot recognized competitions where scores are officially recorded, keep a [training log](/blog/why-every-precision-shooter-needs-a-training-log/) you trust, and know the current window and event list before planning a season around chasing one. ## FAQ **Can an MQS be shot at a national championship?** Only if the competition has been specially designated as a qualifying event under the system. Otherwise, the score does not count toward MQS regardless of level. **Do you need a new ISSF MQS for every Olympic Games?** Yes. Each cycle's qualification system defines its own window, so a score shot for Tokyo never carried over to a later Games even where the systems look similar. **Where are the official MQS numbers published?** In the qualification system documents issued by the IOC and ISSF for each Games. Always check the current version, since values and windows are set per cycle. ## FAQ **Q: Does shooting an MQS qualify me for the Olympics?** A: No. An MQS only makes you eligible for entry. Olympic places are quota slots won by federations at qualifying championships; an athlete still needs an MQS to be entered in the events they shoot. **Q: Do finals count for an ISSF MQS?** A: No. Under the LA 2028 system an MQS can only be achieved in elimination or qualification rounds of Olympic events, at designated competitions inside the qualification window. **Q: How many events do I need an MQS for?** A: One per event you are entered in. An athlete shooting 10m air rifle and the mixed team event needs the MQS in that event to be eligible for both entries. --- Part of the [TargetLog blog](https://target-log.net/blog/). Site index for AI/LLM agents: https://target-log.net/llms.txt ยท all articles: https://target-log.net/llms-full.txt.