The men's

ISSF 50 meter pistol The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often 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 disciplines, dating back to th ...

competition 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 ...

was held on 19 September. There were 36 competitors from 27 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games.

Tanyu Kiryakov Tanyu Kiryakov ( bg, Таню Киряков, born 2 March 1963) is a Bulgarian pistol shooter, the first shooter to have won Olympic gold medals in both the 50 metre pistol event and the 10 metre air pistol event, in which he was also the first O ...

won, becoming the first shooter to win Olympic gold medals in both this event and

10 metre air pistol The 10 meter air pistol is an Olympic shooting event governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). It is similar to 10 meter air rifle in that it is shot with 4.5 mm (or .177) caliber air guns at a distance of 10 m ...

. 2.7 points behind,

Igor Basinski Ihar Basinski (born April 11, 1963), also spelled Igor Basinsky, is a Belarusian sports shooter and Olympic medalist. He was born in Hrodna and won silver medals in the 50 metre pistol at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer O ...

won his fourth Olympic medal (third in this event—the third man to earn three in the free pistol—and second in the 2000 Games, after a bronze in the 10 metre air pistol). Kiryakov's gold was Bulgaria's first free pistol victory, and the first medal of any color in the event for the nation since 1980.

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 ...

's bronze was the Czech Republic's first medal in the event.

Background

This was the 20th appearance of the

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 open to women from 1968 to 1980. 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. All eight finalists from the 1996 Games returned: gold medalist

Boris Kokorev Boris Borisovich Kokorev (russian: Борис Борисович Кокорев, 20 April 1959 in Tbilisi – 22 October 2018 in Moscow)

of Russia, silver medalist (and 1988 bronze medalist)

of Belarus, bronze medalist

Roberto Di Donna Roberto Di Donna (born 8 September 1968 in Rome) is an Italian sport shooter and Olympic champion. He received a gold medal in 10 metre air pistol at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populou ...

of Italy, fourth-place finisher (and 1992 gold medalist)

Kanstantsin Lukashyk Kanstantsin Leonidovich Lukashyk ( be, Канстанцін Леонідовіч Лукашык, Kanstancin Leonidovič Łukašyk, born September 18, 1975 in Hrodna) is a Belarusian pistol shooter, most known for winning the 50 metre pistol eve ...

of Belarus, fifth-place finisher Vigilio Fait of Italy, sixth-place finisher (and 1992 silver and 1984 bronze medalist and 1988 and 1992 finalist)

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 ...

of China, seventh-place finisher

of the Czech Republic, and eighth-place finisher Sergio Sánchez of Guatemala. Also returning was 1992 finalist

of Bulgaria. The 1998 world championship podium was

Franck Dumoulin Franck Dumoulin (born May 13, 1973 in Denain) is a pistol shooter from Bordeaux, France. Palmarès Olympic Games World Championships * 1994 World Championships (Milan, Italia) : ** Gold Medal in 10 m Air Pistol ** Bronze Medal in 5 ...

of France,

Hans-Jürgen Bauer-Neumaier Hans-Jürgen Bauer-Neumaier (born 23 April 1968 in Obertaufkirchen) is a German sport shooter. He competed in pistol shooting events at the Summer Olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests a ...

of Germany, and Basinski; all three were competing in Sydney. Kazakhstan and Namibia each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the 1900 event and the boycotted 1980 Games. Kiryakov 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 ...

152.

Competition format

The competition featured two rounds, qualifying and final. The qualifying round was the same as the previous competitions: 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. The top 8 shooters advanced to a final; ties necessary for qualifying were broken by 6th-series score, while other ties were not broken. They shot an additional series of 10 shots, with the score added to their qualifying round score to give a 70-shot total. The 1996 competition had added decimal scoring to the final; shots could score up to 10.9 for the final. The total maximum was therefore 709.0. Ties were broken first by final round score. Any pistol was permitted.

Records

The existing world and Olympic records were as follows. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

Results

Qualifying

Final

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre pistol Shooting at the 2000 Summer Olympics Men's 2000 Men's events at the 2000 Summer Olympics