The invention relates to a measurement target for characterizing shock wave speed of a medium Z opaque material and a method, and belongs to the technical field of high-pressure characteristics of thematerial. The measurement target is located at a diagnostic hole of a drive black cavity and comprises an ablation layer, a tracer layer and a sample layer, wherein the ablation layer is arranged toface the diagnostic hole; the tracer layer is made of a transparent material; the sample layer is a medium Z opaque material sample layer, is of a stepped structure and comprises a first sample layer,a second sample layer and a third sample layer which are arranged side by side in sequence, and the thicknesses of the first sample layer, the second sample layer and the third sample layer are increased in sequence. Compared with a traditional wedge-shaped sample, planar sample design is adopted, machining is easy, the machining precision is high, higher-precision measurement can be realized, the requirement for experimental conditions can be broadened to the greatest extent, an experimental result derives from the same driving source, possible difference of the experimental conditions between different times is eliminated, consistency and reliability of data are guaranteed, and meanwhile, experimental resources are saved.