Shooting sports have been included at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 and 1928 games.
The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four competitions per year in each event. For the best shooters there is since 1988 a World Cup Final.
The men's 50 metre team pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the shooting at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third appearance of the event, which had also been held in 1900 and 1908. The competition was held on Tuesday, 2 July 1912. Twenty sport shooters from five nations competed. The event was won by the United States, successfully defending its Olympic title. The American team included John Dietz, a veteran of the 1908 Games, making him the first to win multiple medals in the event. Silver went to Sweden. Great Britain repeated as bronze medalists.
The men's 30 metre dueling pistol was a shooting sports pistol event held as part of the 1912 Summer Olympics shooting programme. It was later standardized by the ISSF to the men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol. It was the third appearance of the event, as it had not been featured at the 1908 Games. The competition was held on Saturday, 29 June 1912. Forty-two sport shooters from ten nations competed. Nations were limited to 12 shooters each. The event was won by Alfred Lane of the United States, in the nation's debut. Sweden, also making its debut, earned the silver and bronze medals.
The men's ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 28 June 1924 at the shooting ranges at Versailles. 55 shooters from 17 nations competed. Nations were limited to four shooters each. Henry Bailey won the United States' second consecutive championship in the event. Sweden also earned the same medal as in 1912, with Vilhelm Carlberg's silver. Lennart Hannelius took bronze in Finland's debut in the event.
The men's 30 metre rapid fire pistol, labeled the "revolver" in the Official Report and often described as a "military pistol" event was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. The International Shooting Sport Federation identified this event as the fourth appearance of an individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event; it was the second time the distance was 30 metres. In 1896 the distance was 25 metres; in 1900, 20 metres. The competition was held on 3 August 1920. 11 shooters from 3 nations competed. The event was won by Guilherme Paraense in Brazil's debut in the event; it was Brazil's first Olympic gold in any event. American Raymond Bracken took silver, while Swiss shooter Fritz Zulauf earned his nation's first medal in the event.
The men's individual competition with revolver and pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of such an event at different distances. The competition was held on 2 August 1920. 31 shooters from 8 nations competed. The event was won by Karl Frederick of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and third overall victory in the event. Defending champion Alfred Lane took bronze, the first man to win multiple medals in the event. Brazil's Afrânio da Costa finished between the two Americans, taking silver.
The men's 50 metre team pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth and last appearance of the event. The competition was held on 2 August 1920. 65 shooters from 13 nations competed. The event was won by the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the event. Alfred Lane returned from the 1912 team, making him the second person to earn multiple medals, and multiple gold medals, in the men's team pistol. Sweden also repeated as silver medalists. Bronze went to Brazil, in that nation's debut in the event.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics, held on 23 July at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex in Atlanta. There were 45 competitors from 28 nations. It was the first time decimals were used in the 50 metre pistol finals. Boris Kokorev set a new Olympic record after scoring 570 points in the qualification round and 96.4 in the final, winning the gold medal, while places 2 through 5 were occupied by Belarusian and Italian shooters. Russia, Belarus, and Italy all received their first medal in the free pistol. Silver medalist Igor Basinski was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the event.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1992 Summer Olympics. There were 44 competitors from 29 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The competition was held on 26 July 1992 at the Mollet del Vallès shooting range.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. It was the second Olympic free pistol competition to feature final shooting, after an abortive attempt in 1960. There were 43 competitors from 31 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Sorin Babii of Romania, the nation's first victory in the event and first medal in free pistol since 1972. Ragnar Skanåker of Sweden repeated as silver medalist, the second man to earn three medals in the free pistol; four years later, he would become the first to win four medals. Soviet Igor Basinski took bronze.
The 50 metre team free pistol event was one of the competitions in the Shooting at the 1900 Summer Olympics events in Paris. It was held on 1 August 1900. 20 shooters from 4 nations competed, with five shooters per team. Medals were given for individual high scores, and the scores of the five shooters were summed to give a team score. The winning team was from Switzerland; silver went to France and the Netherlands took bronze.
Lalita Yauhleuskaya is a professional sporting shooter who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney representing Belarus and currently represents Australia in international competition.
The mixed ISSF 50 meter pistol was a competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics. It was held on 27 August 1972 at Schießanlage in Munich. There were 59 competitors from 36 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games.
The mixed ISSF 50 meter pistol was one of the seven sport shooting events at the 1980 Summer Olympics. There were 33 competitors from 19 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The gold medal was won by Aleksandr Melentyev of the Soviet Union who broke the world record with 581 points. It was the Soviet Union's third victory in the event, second-most behind the United States at four. Melentyev defeated Harald Vollmar of East Germany by 13 points. For Vollmar this was his third Olympic medal in the same event, having won silver at 1976 Montreal and bronze at 1968 Mexico City. Vollmar was the first man to win at least three medals in the free pistol. Lyubcho Dyakov's bronze was Bulgaria's first medal in the event.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. It was the tenth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 5 and 6 September 1960 at the Umberto I Shooting Range in Rome. 67 shooters from 40 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Aleksey Gushchin of the Soviet Union, as the Soviet team finished 1–2 with Makhmud Umarov repeating as silver medalist. Yoshihisa Yoshikawa of Japan took bronze.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eleventh appearance of the event. The competition was held on 18 October 1964 at the shooting ranges in Tokyo. 52 shooters from 34 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Väinö Markkanen of Finland, the nation's second victory in the event. American Franklin Green took silver, returning the United States to the podium in the event after a one-Games absence. Yoshihisa Yoshikawa of Japan repeated as bronze medalist, the fourth man to earn multiple medals in the free pistol.
The mixed ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1968 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event, and the first where the competition was open to women. The competition was held on 18 October 1968 at the shooting ranges in Mexico City. 69 shooters from 42 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Grigory Kosykh of the Soviet Union in a shoot-off, the nation's second victory in the event. Heinz Mertel of West Germany took silver while Harald Vollmar of East Germany took bronze, with each nation earning a medal in their first competition separate from each other; they were the first medals for any German shooter in the free pistol since 1936.
The mixed ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1976 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 18 July 1976 at the shooting ranges in Montreal. 47 shooters from 31 nations competed. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Uwe Potteck, with East Germany finishing 1–2 as Harald Vollmar took silver. It was East Germany's first victory in the event. Rudolf Dollinger of Austria repeated as bronze medalist. Vollmar and Dollinger were the fifth and sixth men to win multiple medals in the free pistol.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports 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 of China, with his countryman Wang Yifu 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 ; he was the seventh man to win multiple medals in the event and third to win medals 12 years apart.
