# Free pistol at the Olympics

The "free" pistol is former and still unofficially used name for the men's ISSF 50 meter pistol competition held at the Olympics. "Free" pistol is used to distinguish between other pistol disciplines (air, rapid fire, standard, sport, military/centre-fire). The competition was first held at the inaugural 1896 Olympics (at 30 metres) and then held at 50 metres (or yards, in 1908) each time that shooting was on the programme (that is, excluding 1904) until 1920. It was dropped from the programme for amateurism reasons from 1924 to 1932, but returned in 1936. It was held again at every Games from then until 2016; the event, which had no women's equivalent, was dropped after 2016 to make room for a mixed team air pistol event as the sport moved toward gender equality. In all, the event was held 24 times. The event was open to women from 1968 to 1980, although very few women participated these years.
A team event was held four times from 1904 to 1920.

## Medals
### Men

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1896 Athens details | Sumner Paine United States | Holger Nielsen Denmark | Ioannis Frangoudis Greece |
| 1900 Paris details | Karl Röderer Switzerland | Achille Paroche France | Konrad Stäheli Switzerland |
| 1904 St. Louis | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1908 London details | Paul Van Asbroeck Belgium | Réginald Storms Belgium | James Gorman United States |
| 1912 Stockholm details | Alfred Lane United States | Peter Dolfen United States | Charles Stewart Great Britain |
| 1920 Antwerp details | Karl Frederick United States | Afrânio da Costa Brazil | Alfred Lane United States |
| 1924 Paris | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1928 Amsterdam | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1932 Los Angeles | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1936 Berlin details | Torsten Ullman Sweden | Erich Krempel Germany | Charles des Jammonières France |
| 1948 London details | Edwin Vásquez Peru | Rudolf Schnyder Switzerland | Torsten Ullman Sweden |
| 1952 Helsinki details | Huelet Benner United States | Ángel León Spain | Ambrus Balogh Hungary |
| 1956 Melbourne details | Pentti Linnosvuo Finland | Makhmud Umarov Soviet Union | Offutt Pinion United States |
| 1960 Rome details | Aleksey Gushchin Soviet Union | Makhmud Umarov Soviet Union | Yoshihisa Yoshikawa Japan |
| 1964 Tokyo details | Väinö Markkanen Finland | Franklin Green United States | Yoshihisa Yoshikawa Japan |
| 1968 Mexico City details (mixed) | Grigory Kosykh Soviet Union | Heinz Mertel West Germany | Harald Vollmar East Germany |
| 1972 Munich details (mixed) | Ragnar Skanåker Sweden | Daniel Iuga Romania | Rudolf Dollinger Austria |
| 1976 Montreal details (mixed) | Uwe Potteck East Germany | Harald Vollmar East Germany | Rudolf Dollinger Austria |
| 1980 Moscow details (mixed) | Aleksandr Melentyev Soviet Union | Harald Vollmar East Germany | Lyubcho Dyakov Bulgaria |
| 1984 Los Angeles details | Xu Haifeng China | Ragnar Skanåker Sweden | Wang Yifu China |
| 1988 Seoul details | Sorin Babii Romania | Ragnar Skanåker Sweden | Igor Basinski Soviet Union |
| 1992 Barcelona details | Kanstantsin Lukashyk Unified Team | Wang Yifu China | Ragnar Skanåker Sweden |
| 1996 Atlanta details | Boris Kokorev Russia | Igor Basinski Belarus | Roberto Di Donna Italy |
| 2000 Sydney details | Tanyu Kiryakov Bulgaria | Igor Basinski Belarus | Martin Tenk Czech Republic |
| 2004 Athens details | Mikhail Nestruyev Russia | Jin Jong-oh South Korea | Kim Jong-su North Korea |
| 2008 Beijing details | Jin Jong-oh South Korea | Tan Zongliang China | Vladimir Isakov Russia |
| 2012 London details | Jin Jong-Oh South Korea | Choi Young-Rae South Korea | Wang Zhiwei China |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro details | Jin Jong-oh South Korea | Hoàng Xuân Vinh Vietnam | Kim Song-guk North Korea |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Gymnast | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Jin Jong-oh | South Korea (KOR) | 2004–2016 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Ragnar Skanåker | Sweden (SWE) | 1972, 1984–1992 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Alfred Lane | United States (USA) | 1912–1920 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Torsten Ullman | Sweden (SWE) | 1936–1948 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Harald Vollmar | East Germany (GDR) | 1968, 1976–1980 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Igor Basinski | Soviet Union (URS) Belarus (BLR) | 1988, 1996–2000 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Makhmud Umarov | Soviet Union (URS) | 1956–1960 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Wang Yifu | China (CHN) | 1988–1992 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Yoshihisa Yoshikawa | Japan (JPN) | 1960–1964 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Rudolf Dollinger | Austria (AUT) | 1972–1976 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

#### Medalists by nation

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Soviet Union (URS) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | South Korea (KOR) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Sweden (SWE) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Russia (RUS) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Finland (FIN) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | China (CHN) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Belgium (BEL) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Peru (PER) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Unified Team (EUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Vietnam (VIE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 23 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 23 | North Korea (PRK) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## Team pistol
### Men

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1900 Paris details | Friedrich Lüthi, Paul Probst, Louis Richardet, Karl Röderer, Konrad Stäheli Switzerland | Louis Duffoy, Maurice Lecoq, Léon Moreaux, Achille Paroche, Jules Trinité France | Solko van den Bergh, Antonius Bouwens, Dirk Boest Gips, Henrik Sillem, Anthony Sweijs Netherlands |
| 1908 London details | Charles Axtell, Irving Calkins, John Dietz, James Gorman United States | René Englebert, Charles Paumier du Verger, Réginald Storms, Paul Van Asbroeck Belgium | Geoffrey Coles, William Ellicott, Henry Lynch-Staunton, Jesse Wallingford Great Britain |
| 1912 Stockholm details | John Dietz, Peter Dolfen, Alfred Lane, Henry Sears United States | Erik Boström, Eric Carlberg, Vilhelm Carlberg, Georg de Laval Sweden | Hugh Durant, Albert Kempster, Horatio Poulter, Charles Stewart Great Britain |
| 1920 Antwerp details | Raymond Bracken, Karl Frederick, Michael Kelly, Alfred Lane, James H. Snook United States | Anders Andersson, Gunnar Gabrielsson, Sigvard Hultcrantz, Anders Johnson, Casimir Reuterskiöld Sweden | Dario Barbosa, Afrânio da Costa, Guilherme Paraense, Fernando Soledade, Sebastião Wolf Brazil |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Gymnast | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | John Dietz | United States (USA) | 1908–1912 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Alfred Lane | United States (USA) | 1912–1920 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Medalists by nation

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |