The men's

ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol 25 meter rapid fire pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events and is shot with .22 LR pistols. The event has been a part of the Olympic program ever since the beginning in 1896, although its rules changed greatly before World War II, after which ...

was one of the fifteen shooting events at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Ralf Schumann Ralf Schumann (born 10 June 1962) is a former German 25 m rapid fire pistol shooter. He is a three-time Olympic Champion and twice the World Champion. One of the most decorated shooters of the modern era, he is the first of two sport shooters to ...

defended his title from Barcelona, setting two new Olympic records. Schumann was the third man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the rapid fire pistol, and the first (and, as of the 2016 Games, only) to win three or more medals in the event; he would finish with three golds and five total medals. Emil Milev of Bulgaria (silver) and

Vladimir Vokhmyanin Vladimir Anatolyevich Vokhmyanin (russian: Владимир Анатольевич Вохмянин, born 27 January 1962) is a Kazakhstani sport shooter. He was born in Temirtau. He won two Olympic bronze medals in 25 metre rapid fire pistol; o ...

of Kazakhstan (bronze) each won their nation's first medal in the event, though Vokhmyanin was a repeat bronze medalist (for the Unified Team in 1992), making him the 10th man to win multiple medals in the event. There were 23 competitors from 19 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games.

Background

This was the 20th appearance of what had been standardised in 1948 as the men's

event, the only event on the 2020 programme that traces back to 1896. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1928 (when no shooting events were held) and 1908; it was nominally open to women from 1968 to 1980, although very few women participated these years. There is no women's equivalent on the Olympic programme, as of 2021. The first five events were quite different, with some level of consistency finally beginning with the 1932 event—which, though it had differences from the 1924 competition, was roughly similar. The 1936 competition followed the 1932 one quite closely. The post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

event substantially altered the competition once again. The 1984 Games introduced women's-only shooting events, including the

ISSF 25 meter pistol 25 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often known as sport pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It was devised as a women's event in the 1960s, based upon the rules of ISSF 25 meter center-fire pistol, 25 meter center-fire pisto ...

(though this is more similar to the non-Olympic men's

ISSF 25 meter center-fire pistol 25 meter center-fire pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events, and is normally a men-only event. Its origin lies in competitions with military-style service pistols, and as such its history dates back to the 19th century. 25 meter pistol (forme ...

than the rapid fire pistol). Seven of the eight semifinalists from 1992 returned: gold medalist (and 1988 silver medalist)

of Germany, silver medalist (and 1988 gold medalist)

Afanasijs Kuzmins Afanasijs Kuzmins (born 22 March 1947) is a Latvian shooter who won two Olympic medals in the 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol event; gold at the 1988 for the USSR and silver at the 1992 Summer Olympics for Latvia. He also won the 1986 World Championship ...

of Latvia, bronze medalist

of the Unified Team (now competing for Kazakhstan), fourth-place finisher

Krzysztof Kucharczyk Krzysztof Kucharczyk (born 7 May 1957 in Wrocław) is a Polish former Shooting sport, sport shooter who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics, in the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and in the 2000 Summer Olympics. References

...

of Poland, fifth-place finisher (and 1988 finalist) John McNally of the United States, sixth-place finisher

Miroslav Ignatiuk Myroslav Ihnatyuk (born February 2, 1957) is a Ukrainian sport shooter. He competed at the Summer Olympics in 1992 and 1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic ...

of the Unified Team (now competing for Ukraine), and eighth-place finisher (and 1988 finalist)

Bernardo Tobar Bernardo Tobar (born 5 January , 1951 in Popayán) is a Colombian former sport shooter who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics, in the 1988 Summer Olympics, in the 1992 Summer Olympics, and in the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olym ...

of Colombia. Kucharczyk had won the 1994 world championship, with Emil Milev of Bulgaria second and Schumann (the 1990 world champion) third. Croatia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Ukraine each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 17th appearance, most of any nation.

Competition format

The competition format dropped the three-round format used in 1992 and went back to a two-round (qualifying round and final) format, as in 1988. The qualifying round from 1988 onward was essentially the same as the full competition format from 1948–1984. Each shooter fired 60 shots. These were done in two courses of 30; each course consisted of two stages of 15; each stage consisted of three series of 5. In each stage, the time limit for each series was 8 seconds for the first, 6 seconds for the second, and 4 seconds for the third. The 1988 tournament had added a two-series final for the top eight shooters; the 1992 competition broke that down to a four-series semifinal for the top eight and two-series final for the top four. In 1996, the top eight once again advanced to the final. In the final, each shooter fired two five-shot series at 4 seconds. Scoring in the final was to 1/10 of a point, with each shot worth up to 10.9 points (for a final round maximum of 109, and total maximum of 709). It was the first time scoring to 1/10 of a point was done in the Olympic rapid fire pistol. The 1992 competition had introduced round targets rather than the silhouettes used from 1948 to 1988 as well as many pre-World War II versions of the event. Score, rather than hits, had been used as the primary ranking method since 1960.Official Report, vol. 5, p. 338.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. ; Two courses (60 shots, 600 maximum)

broke his own Olympic record in the qualifying round with 596 points. His total of 698.0 points was the inaugural record for the new format.

Schedule

Results

Qualifying

Final

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics Men's 1996 Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics