The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a

shooting sports Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airgun ...

event held as part of the Shooting at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on July 29, 1984, at the shooting ranges in Los Angeles. 56 shooters from 38 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by

Xu Haifeng Xu Haifeng (; born August 1, 1957) is a male China, Chinese pistol Shooting sports, shooter, and he is the first citizen of the People's Republic of China to win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics. He specializes in the 50 metre pistol event. H ...

of China, with his countryman

Wang Yifu Wang Yifu (, born December 4, 1960 in Liaoyang, Liaoning) is a male Chinese pistol shooter, and in terms of Olympic medals one of the most successful sport shooters of all times, and was the first shooter with six individual Olympic medals. He ...

taking bronze. As the free pistol was the first medal event in 1984 and the People's Republic of China fully competed for the first time in 1984, these were the first Olympic medals won by competitors from that nation. Ragnar Skanåker of Sweden took silver, 12 years after winning his first medal (gold in 1972); he was the seventh man to win multiple medals in the event and third to win medals 12 years apart (

Torsten Ullman Torsten Ullman (27 July 1908 – 11 May 1993) was a Swedish pistol shooter and entrepreneur, most famous for his gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where the Germans were favourites in the free pistol competition but Ullman won by a mar ...

had medaled in 1936 and 1948,

Harald Vollmar Harald Vollmar (born 24 April 1947) is a retired East German pistol shooter. He competed in the individual 50 m event at the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics and won two silver and one bronze medal, placing fifth in 1972. Between 1976 and 197 ...

in 1968, 1976, and 1980).

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the ISSF 50 meter pistol event. The event was held at every Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1920 (except 1904, when no shooting events were held) and from 1936 to 2016; it was nominally open to women from 1968 to 1980, although very few women participated these years. A separate women's event would be introduced in 1984. 1896 and 1908 were the only Games in which the distance was not 50 metres; the former used 30 metres and the latter 50 yards. Three of the top 10 shooters from the 1980 Games returned: seventh-place finisher (and 1972 gold medalist and 1976 fifth-place finisher) Ragnar Skanåker of Sweden, eighth-place finisher Paavo Palokangas of Finland, and ninth-place finisher Sylvio Carvalho of Brazil. Skanåker was also the reigning (1982) world champion. Many of the rest of the 1980 Olympians were from

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

nations, including the reigning gold medalist and 1982 world championship runner-up

Aleksandr Melentyev Alexander Remmovich Melentyev (russian: Алекса́ндр Ре́ммович Меле́нтьев; 27 June 1954 – 16 February 2015) was a Soviet competitive sport shooter who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. The world rec ...

of the Soviet Union. The People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Ecuador, India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Senegal each made their debut in the event. Sweden and the United States each made their 14th appearance, tied for most of any nation. Xu used a

Hämmerli Hämmerli () is a formerly Swiss, now German manufacturer of air guns and firearms aimed mostly at target shooting, especially Olympic events governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. In 2006, Hämmerli was acquired by Umarex; prod ...

150.

Competition format

Each shooter fired 60 shots, in 6 series of 10 shots each, at a distance of 50 metres. The target was round, 50 centimetres in diameter, with 10 scoring rings. Scoring for each shot was up to 10 points, in increments of 1 point. The maximum score possible was 600 points. Any pistol was permitted.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 535.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting At The 1984 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 Metre Free Pistol Shooting at the 1984 Summer Olympics Men's 1984 Men's events at the 1984 Summer Olympics