Host nation China qualified 3 athletes per gender automatically when they participated with the same number of athletes at the 2007 World Outdoor Target Championships in Leipzig. At these championships another 80 spots were given to NOCs. The top 8 nations per gender (apart from China) in the team competition qualified with 3 athletes for the Olympics. Sixteen spots per gender were given to the NOCs with the highest ranked athletes who had not yet qualified through the team competition, with a maximum of 2 athletes per NOC.