Shooting Training Session for Young Women: Air Rifle Training and the Growing Role of Women in Sport

Conclusion

The August 21, 2026 photographs from Tehran provide a detailed visual glimpse into air rifle shooting training for young Iranian women.

Captured by photographer Morteza Nikoubazl for NurPhoto, the images show young female trainees practicing with air rifles and working with shooting targets at a sports complex in Tehran.

The session is part of a much broader history of Iranian women’s participation in competitive shooting. Iranian female shooters have represented their country at the Olympic Games, Asian championships and other international competitions, with athletes such as Golnoush Sebghatollahi, Elaheh Ahmadi, Najmeh Khedmati and Armina Sadeghian contributing to that history.

For the young women in the photographs, however, the focus is not necessarily on international medals. It is on training: learning how to handle the equipment, establish a stable position, concentrate on the target and repeat the fundamentals of precision shooting.

That distinction is important.

Elite athletes do not appear suddenly at international competitions. They develop through years of training, coaching and competition. The young Iranian trainees photographed in Tehran represent that beginning.

Their images provide a window into women’s sports in Iran, young Iranian athletes, air rifle shooting in Tehran, and the continuing development of female participation in competitive shooting.

In a city frequently represented in international media through politics and geopolitical events, these photographs offer another perspective: young people practicing a demanding precision sport and preparing for the possibility of competition.