50 m Pistol

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50 m Pistol
Men
Number of shots: 60 + 10
Olympic Games: Since 1896
World Championships: Since 1900
Abbreviation: FP

50 m Pistol (formerly called Free Pistol) is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting types, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since the 1930s.

The pistol used must be in caliber .22 using .22 Long Rifle ammunition, may only be loaded with one round at a time, and have 'open' sights (i.e. optical and laser sights are not allowed). It must also be operated by one hand and not supported by any other part of the shooter's body. Apart from that, there are practically no rules for the pistol, explaining the former name of the event. Trigger force may be as low as the shooter pleases, the grip may be designed in any way and there are no restrictions on size and weight. Precision pistols with long barrels, grips fitted to the shooter's hand, very light trigger pull, etc., are often themselves called free pistols.

The course of fire is 60 shots within a maximum time of two hours. The target is the same as in 25 m Standard Pistol, and with double the distance this explains the lower result level. 570 out of the maximum 600 is considered a world-class result. The current world record, 581, was achieved already in the Moscow Olympics in 1980 by USSR's own Alexander Melentiev.

Most shooters excelling in 50 m Pistol also compete at the same level in 10 m Air Pistol, a similar precision event.

[edit] Current world records

See also: List of national shooting records surpassing the world records
Current world records in 50 m Pistol
Men Qualification 581 Flag of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Melentiev (URS) July 20, 1980 Moscow (URS) edit
Final 676.2 Flag of the United States William Demarest (USA) (577+99.2) June 4, 2000 Milan (ITA) edit
Teams 1719 Flag of Romania Romania (Babii, Ilie, Stan) September 7, 1985 Osijek (YUG) edit
Junior Men Individual 577 Flag of Bulgaria Spas Koprinkov (BUL) August 9, 1990 Moscow (URS) edit
Teams 1666 Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria (Georgiev, Ivanov, Simeonov) August 4, 1988 Joensuu (FIN) edit

[edit] World and Olympic Champions

Further information: List of Olympic medalists in shooting: 50 m Pistol

There are no double Olympic champions in 50 m Pistol. World Championships were held annually up to the 1930s, which made a few long streaks possible, but after World War II few shooters have been able to win two major worldwide titles.

Another rare double is that between this precision event and its direct opposite 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol; this has only been accomplished by Alfred Lane (completed in 1912), Torsten Ullman (1939), Huelet Benner (1952) and Pentti Linnosvuo (1964), with Lane and Linnosvuo using only Olympic titles. Benner, on the other hand, is the only shooter with two titles in both events.

Year Venue Individual Team
1896 Athens United States Sumner Paine (USA)
19001 Paris Switzerland Karl Röderer (SUI) Switzerland Switzerland
1901 Luzern Flag of Switzerland Karl Hess (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1902 Rome Flag of Switzerland Karl Hess (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1903 Buenos Aires Flag of Argentina Benjamin Segura (ARG) Flag of Argentina Argentina
1904 Lyon Flag of Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
Alfred Lane at the 1912 Olympics
Alfred Lane at the 1912 Olympics
1905 Brussels Flag of Belgium Julien Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Belgium Belgium
1906 Milan Flag of Switzerland Konrad Stäheli (SUI) Flag of Belgium Belgium
1907 Zürich Flag of Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Belgium Belgium
1908 Vienna Flag of Germany Richard Fischer (GER) Flag of Italy Italy
1908 London Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) United States United States
1909 Hamburg Flag of Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Germany Germany
1910 Loosduinen Flag of Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Belgium Belgium
1911 Rome Flag of Belgium Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL) Flag of Belgium Belgium
1912 Bayonne-Biarritz Flag of Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Belgium Belgium
1912 Stockholm United States Alfred Lane (USA) United States United States
1913 Camp Perry Flag of Sweden Vilhelm Carlberg (SWE) Flag of the United States United States
1914 Viborg Flag of Belgium Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL) Flag of Italy Italy
1920 Antwerp United States Karl Frederick (USA) United States United States
1921 Lyon Flag of Switzerland Hans Hänni (SUI) Flag of Italy Italy
1922 Milan Flag of Switzerland Hans Hänni (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
Aleksandr Melentiev, the 1980 Olympic Champion and World record holder
Aleksandr Melentiev, the 1980 Olympic Champion and World record holder
1923 Camp Perry Flag of the United States Irving Romaro Calkins (USA) Flag of the United States United States
1924 Reims Flag of Switzerland Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1925 St. Gallen Flag of Switzerland Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI) Flag of France France
1927 Rome Flag of Switzerland Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1928 Loosduinen Flag of Switzerland Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1929 Stockholm Flag of Switzerland Fritz Zulauf (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1930 Antwerp Flag of Switzerland Lean Revilliod de Bude (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1931 Lwów Flag of France Marcel Bonin (FRA) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1933 Granada Flag of Sweden Torsten Ullman (SWE) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1935 Rome Flag of Sweden Torsten Ullman (SWE) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1936 Berlin Sweden Torsten Ullman (SWE)
1937 Helsinki Flag of Sweden Torsten Ullman (SWE) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
Boris Kokorev, the 1996 Olympic Champion
Boris Kokorev, the 1996 Olympic Champion
1939 Luzern Flag of Germany Erich Krempel (GER) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1947 Stockholm Flag of Sweden Torsten Ullman (SWE) Flag of Argentina Argentina
1948 London Peru Edwin Vásquez (PER)
1949 Buenos Aires Flag of Switzerland Beat Rhyner (SUI) Flag of Argentina Argentina
1952 Oslo Flag of Sweden Torsten Ullman (SWE) Flag of Sweden Sweden
1952 Helsinki United States Huelet Benner (USA)
1954 Caracas Flag of the United States Huelet Benner (USA) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1956 Melbourne Finland Pentti Linnosvuo (FIN)
1958 Moscow Flag of the Soviet Union Makhmud Umarov (URS) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1960 Rome Soviet Union Alexei Gushchin (URS)
1962 Cairo Flag of the Soviet Union Vladimir Stolipin (URS) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1964 Tokyo Finland Väinö Markkanen (FIN)
Mikhail Nestruev, the 2004 Olympic Champion
Mikhail Nestruev, the 2004 Olympic Champion
1966 Wiesbaden Flag of the Soviet Union Vladimir Stolipin (URS) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1968 Mexico City Soviet Union Grigori Kosych (URS)
1970 Phoenix Flag of the German Democratic Republic Harald Vollmar (GDR) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1972 Munich Sweden Ragnar Skanåker (SWE)
1974 Thun Flag of the Soviet Union Gregori Zapolski (URS) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1976 Montreal East Germany Uwe Potteck (GDR)
1978 Seoul Flag of Switzerland Moritz Minder (SUI) Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
1980 Moscow Soviet Union Aleksandr Melentiev (URS)
1982 Caracas Flag of Sweden Ragnar Skanåker (SWE) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1984 Los Angeles China Xu Haifeng (CHN)
1986 Suhl Flag of the Soviet Union Sergei Pyzhianov (URS) Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
1988 Seoul Romania Sorin Babii (ROU)
1990 Moscow Flag of Bulgaria Spas Koprinkov (BUL) Flag of Hungary Hungary Juniors
1992 Barcelona Unified Team Kanstantsin Lukashyk (EUN) Individual Team
1994 Milan Flag of the People's Republic of China Wang Yifu (CHN) Flag of Ukraine Ukraine Flag of Moldova Anatolie Corovai (MDA) Flag of Moldova Moldova
1996 Atlanta Flag of Russia Boris Kokorev (RUS)
1998 Barcelona Flag of France Franck Dumoulin (FRA) Flag of the People's Republic of China China Flag of Yugoslavia Andrija Zlatić (YUG) Flag of Poland Poland
2000 Sydney Bulgaria Tanyu Kiryakov (BUL)
2002 Lahti Flag of the People's Republic of China Tan Zongliang (CHN) Flag of the People's Republic of China China Flag of Kazakhstan Vladimir Issachenko (KAZ) Flag of Ukraine Ukraine
2004 Athens Russia Mikhail Nestruev (RUS)
2006 Zagreb Flag of the People's Republic of China Tan Zongliang (CHN) Flag of the People's Republic of China China Flag of the People's Republic of China Pu Qifeng (CHN) Flag of the People's Republic of China China

1 The Olympic competitions in Paris also counted as the 1900 World Championships.