The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event. The competition was held on 2 August 1948 at the shooting ranges at London. 50 shooters from 22 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three shooters each since the 1932 Games. The event was won by Edwin Vásquez of Peru in the nation's debut in the free pistol. Vásquez is still (through the 2020 Games) the only Peruvian athlete to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games. Rudolf Schnyder of Switzerland took silver. Defending champion Torsten Ullman of Sweden earned bronze, the second man to win multiple medals in the event.

Background This event marked the seventh appearance of the ISSF 50 meter pistol at the Olympic Games. It was featured in every Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1920 (excluding 1904, when no shooting events were held) and from 1936 to 2016. The event was officially open to female competitors between 1968 and 1980, though participation by women during this period was minimal. A separate women's competition was introduced in 1984. The only exceptions to the standard 50-metre distance were the 1896 and 1908 Games, which used 30 metres and 50 yards, respectively.

Despite the 12-year gap between Olympic Games due to World War II, four of the top 10 competitors from the 1936 event returned: gold medalist Torsten Ullman of Sweden, fourth-place finisher Marcel Bonin of France, seventh-place Georgios Stathis of Greece, and ninth-place Sándor Tölgyesi of Hungary. Ullman was also the reigning world champion, having reclaimed the title in 1947 after previously winning in 1933, 1935, and 1937. Oscar Bidegain of Argentina had finished second in the 1947 World Championships.

Five nations—Cuba, Lebanon, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Spain—made their debut in the event. Greece and the United States each competed for the sixth time, tied for the most appearances by any country.

Vásquez used a Hämmerli MP33 pistol.

Competition format

The competition had each shooter fire 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 time limit for each series of 10 shots was 20 minutes. Any pistol was permitted. Ties were broken first by bulls-eyes (7s and above), then by 10s, then by 9s, etc.Official Report, p. 440.

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

Date Time Round Monday, 2 August 1948 9:00 Final

Results

The three-way tie for second was broken first by bulls-eyes (7s and above, the middle 20 cm diameter); Benner had 58 while Schnyder and Ullman had both put all 60 shots in the target area, so the American placed fourth and the other two continued to the next tie-breaker. There, the advantage went to Schnyder with 21 10s against Ullman's 16.

Rank Shooter Nation Score Edwin Vásquez 545 Rudolf Schnyder 539 Torsten Ullman 539 4 Huelet Benner 539 5 Beat Rhyner 536 6 Ángel León Gozalo 534 7 Ambrus Balogh 532 8 Marcel Lafortune 530 9 Federico Grüben 527 10 Eino Saarnikko 527 11 Sture Nordlund 527 12 Walter Walsh 525 13 Lajos Börzsönyi 525 14 Sándor Tölgyesi 525 15 Heinz Ambühl 524 16 Oscar Bidegain 523 17 Quentin Brooks 523 18 Ignacio Cruzat 522 19 Klaus Lahti 522 20 Väinö Skarp 520 21 Guy Granet 519 22 Lars Berg 517 23 John Gallie 517 24 Jacques Mazoyer 516 25 Martin Gison 514 26 Albert von Einsiedel 512 27 Wenceslao Salgado 512 28 Silvino Ferreira 511 29 Marcel Bonin 511 30 Gunnar Svendsen 510 31 Álvaro dos Santos Filho 509 32 Vangelis Khrysafis 509 33 Nikolaos Tzovlas 508 34 César Injoque 507 35 Juan Rostagno 507 36 Stefano Margotti 503 37 Luis Ruiz Tagle 502 38 Luis Palomo 501 39 Miguel Barasorda 501 40 Roberto Müller 497 41 Herman Schultz 495 42 Moysés Cardoso 485 43 Peter Marchant 484 44 Georgios Stathis 484 45 Mauritz Amundsen 483 46 Carlos Queiroz 482 47 Godofredo Basso 477 48 R. Stéphan 477 49 Enrique Tejeda 470 50 Khalil Hilmi 331

References