Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre pistol

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.[1] 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.[2] Rudolf Schnyder of Switzerland took silver. Defending champion Torsten Ullman of Sweden earned bronze, the second man to win multiple medals in the event.

Men's 50 metre pistol
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Shooting pictogram
VenueNational Shooting Centre
Date2 August
Competitors50 from 22 nations
Winning score545
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Edwin Vásquez
 Peru
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Rudolf Schnyder
 Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Torsten Ullman
 Sweden
← 1936
1952 →

Background

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This was the seventh appearance of the ISSF 50 meter pistol 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 nominally open to women from 1968 to 1980, although very few women participated these years. A separate women's event would be introduced in 1984.[3] 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.[4][5]

Four of the top 10 shooters from the 1936 Games returned despite the 12-year hiatus: gold medalist Torsten Ullman of Sweden, fourth-place finisher Marcel Bonin of France, seventh-place finisher Georgios Stathis of Greece, and ninth-place finisher Sándor Tölgyesi of Hungary. Ullman was the reigning world champion as well, having regained the title in 1947 after coming second in 1937 to break a streak of three victories in 1933, 1935, and 1937. Oscar Bidegain of Argentina had been the runner-up in 1947.

Cuba, Lebanon, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Spain each made their debut in the event. Greece and the United States each made their sixth appearance, tied for most of any nation.

Vásquez used a Hämmerli MP33.

Competition format

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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.[5][6]

Records

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Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.[7]

World record   Torsten Ullman (SWE) 559 Berlin, Germany 7 August 1936
Olympic record   Torsten Ullman (SWE) 559 Berlin, Germany 7 August 1936

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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

Results

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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.[5][6]

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

References

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  1. ^ "Shooting at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Free Pistol, 50 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  2. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 369. ISBN 0140066322.
  3. ^ "Shooting". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Historical Results". issf-sports.org. International Shooting Sport Federation. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Free Pistol, 50 Metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b Official Report, p. 440.
  7. ^ "Free Pistol, 50 Metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 December 2020.