Vladimir Aleksandrovich Goncharov (also ''Vladimir Gontcharov'', russian: Владимир Александрович Гончаров; born 21 May 1977) is a Russian sport shooter. He collected a total of three bronze medals in pistol shooting at the

ISSF World Shooting Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early ...

(2002, 2006, and 2014), and was also selected to represent

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, finishing ninth in the air pistol and fourth in the free pistol. Gontcharov is also a member of the shooting team for Dynamo St. Petersburg, under head coach Anatoliy Suslov. Gontcharov qualified for the Russian squad in pistol shooting at the

after shooting a mandatory minimum score of 590 in air pistol at the 1999 ISSF World Cup meet in the same Olympic venue. In the men's air pistol, Gontcharov scored 572 points to share the ninth position with neighboring Uzbekistan's

Dilshod Mukhtarov Dilshod Mukhtarov ( uz, Дильшод Мухтаров; born 4 January 1975) is an Uzbekistani sport shooter. Mukhtarov made his official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he finished ninth in the men's 10 m air pistol, with a ...

in the prelims, nearly missing out the final round by a two-point deficit. Gontcharov gave himself a chance to improve his feat in the men's free pistol by occupying one of the top eight slots for the final round, but eventually fired a disastrous 7.3-point shot in the ninth series that dropped him out of the medal podium to fourth with a final score of 662.5, finishing just behind the bronze medalist

Martin Tenk Martin Tenk (; born 8 February 1972 in Ostrava) is a Czech sports shooter and Olympic medalist. He won a bronze medal in the 50 metre pistol at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and ...

of the Czech Republic by a 0.3-point margin. At the

2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships The 51st ISSF World Shooting Championships was held in Granada, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Furt ...

Granada, Spain Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, Gontcharov edged out China's Pu Qifeng by a tremendous 1.1-point advantage to claim his third career bronze medal (the first one being done in 2002 and the other in 2006) in the men's air pistol with 178.9 points. Despite missing out his chance to try for three consecutive Olympic bids since 2000, Gontcharov's third-place finish at the World Championships had guaranteed him an Olympic slot for the Russian team at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, signifying his possible comeback from a sixteen-year absence.

References

External links

ISSF Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gontcharov, Vladimir 1977 births Living people Russian male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Russia Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics People from Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Oblast Shooters at the 2015 European Games European Games bronze medalists for Russia European Games medalists in shooting Sportspeople from Leningrad Oblast