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 they were only slightly changed until the two major revisions of 1989 and 2005. The latter restricted the event to sport pistols, thereby banning .22 Short cartridge as well as encircling grips and low trigger-pull weight. This caused a decline in results, as evidenced by a comparison of the world records under the pre-2005 rules (597) and post-2005 rules (593).
The women's 25 metre pistol competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 18 at the Markópoulo Olympic Shooting Centre near Athens, Greece.
Mikhail Valeryevich Nestruyev is a pistol shooter from Moscow, Russia. He is an all-round shooter, having achieved great successes in all five ISSF pistol events. He holds the 25 metre center-fire pistol world record of 594. He also shares the European record in 25 metre standard pistol with Ragnar Skanåker and Vladas Turla, and has performed over 580 at several occasions.
Károly Takács was the first shooter to win two Olympic gold medals in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol event, both with his left hand after his right hand was seriously injured. He is the third known physically disabled athlete to have competed in the Olympic Games after George Eyser in 1904 and Olivér Halassy in 1928, followed by Liz Hartel in 1952, Neroli Fairhall in 1984 and Oscar Pistorius in 2012.
Honorary Captain Vijay Kumar Sharma, AVSM, SM is an Indian sport shooter. He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Kumar hails from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is a retired Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment Indian Army, who was later promoted to Honorary Captain Rank. Vijay Kumar is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest initiative. He is the only Indian to have won a medal at 25m rapid Fire Pistol. He has been posted at Indian Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003 where he is being coached by the Russian Pavel Smirnov.
The men's ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on August 15 and 16 at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall. There were 19 competitors from 14 nations. The event was won by Oleksandr Petriv of Ukraine, the nation's first medal in the event. Germany took silver and bronze. It was Schumann's fifth and final Olympic medal in the event; with three golds and two silvers, he was individually more successful than any nation other than Germany. After rule changes, new Olympic records were established by Keith Sanderson and Petriv (final).
The men's ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Ralf Schumann 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 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 of Kazakhstan (bronze) each won their nation's first medal in the event, though Vokhmyanin was a repeat bronze medalist, 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.
Alan Earle is a competitive pistol shooter from New Zealand.
The ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol was a competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Józef Zapędzki of Poland set an Olympic record of 595 to defend his gold medal. He was the first shooter to defend the gold medal, in this event, since Károly Takács of Hungary defended his gold at the 1948 and 1952 games. Ladislav Falta of Czechoslovakia took silver. Viktor Torshin's bronze put the Soviet Union on the rapid fire pistol podium for the fourth time in five Games. There were 62 competitors from 39 nations. The nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games.
Martin Strnad is a Czech sport shooter. He won a silver medal in the men's rapid fire pistol at the 2009 ISSF World Cup series in Munich, Germany, with a total score of 780.2 points. He won a gold medal in the men's rapid fire pistol at the 2013 ISSF World Cup series in Bangkok, Thailand.
Martin Podhráský is a Czech sport shooter and physician. He won two gold medals, and eventually set a new world record of 583 points in the men's rapid fire pistol (RFP) at the 2011 ISSF World Cup series in Sydney, Australia, and in Changwon, South Korea.
Hasli Izwan Amir Hasan is a Malaysian sport shooter. He won two medals, gold and silver, in the men's rapid fire pistol at the Southeast Asian Games. He also captured a silver medal in the same event at the 2007 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait City, Kuwait, with a total score of 776.6 points, earning him a spot on the Malaysian team for the Olympics.
Roman Romanovych Bondaruk is a Ukrainian sport shooter.
Júlio Antonio de Souza e Almeida is a Brazilian sport shooter. Almeida had won a total of four medals in pistol shooting at the Pan American Games. He also captured a silver and a bronze medal in centre-fire and standard pistol at the 2010 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Munich, Germany, with scores of 586 and 574, respectively.
Bruce James Quick is an Australian sport shooter. Since 1988, Quick had won a total of forty three medals in the rapid fire, centre fire, standard pistol, 50m pistol and Air pistol at the Oceanian Shooting Championships. He also captured a bronze medal in the rapid fire pistol pairs, along with his partner David Chapman at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, with a combined score of 1,125 points.
The men's ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the 12th appearance of the event. The competition was held on 19 October 1964 at the Camp Asaka shooting ranges in Tokyo. 53 shooters from 34 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Pentti Linnosvuo of Finland, the nation's first victory in the event. Linnosvuo was the fourth man to win multiple medals in the event, adding to his 1960 silver; it was his fourth straight Games finishing in the top 5 of the event. Ion Tripșa of Romania took silver, putting that nation back on the podium after a one-Games absence. Czechoslovakia's first rapid fire pistol medal came in the form of Lubomír Nácovský's bronze.
Annette Mary Woodward is an Australian sport shooter. She has competed for Australia in pistol shooting at two Olympics, and has collected a total of six medals in a major international competition, spanning the World Cup series, Oceanian Championships, and two editions of the Commonwealth Games. During her sporting career, Woodward trained under head coach Anatoliy Babushkin for the Australian national team, while shooting at the luxuriously appointed Melbourne Airport Pistol Club.
The men's ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on August 1 and 2 at the shooting ranges in Los Angeles. 55 shooters from 31 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Takeo Kamachi of Japan, the nation's first rapid fire pistol medal. Defending champion Corneliu Ion of Romania took silver, the seventh man to win multiple medals in the event. Finland's Rauno Bies earned bronze, the first medal for a Finn in the rapid fire pistol since 1964.
John Patrick Cooke was a British sports shooter.
The New Zealand Shooting Federation (NZSF) is the governing body for Target Shooting Sports in New Zealand. It holds responsibility for selecting and developing national teams for World Championships, as well as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand 
