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Shooting at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Mixed 50 metre pistol

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Men's 50 metre pistol
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Shooting pictogram
VenueVicente Suárez Shooting Range
Date18 October
Competitors69 from 42 nations
Winning score562 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Grigory Kosykh
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Heinz Mertel
 West Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Harald Vollmar
 East Germany
← 1964
(men's)
1972 →

The mixed (or "open") 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 (though none competed). The competition was held on 18 October 1968 at the shooting ranges in Mexico City. 69 shooters from 42 nations competed.[1] 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 (tying Finland for second-most all-time behind the United States' four). 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.

Background

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This was the 12th 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.[2] 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.[3][4]

Four of the top 10 shooters from the 1964 Games returned: two-time bronze medalist Yoshihisa Yoshikawa of Japan, sixth-place finisher Antonio Vita of Peru, seventh-place finisher Leif Larsson of Sweden, and ninth-place finisher An Jae-song of South Korea. Two-time reigning (1962 and 1966) world champion Vladimir Stolypin was on the Soviet Olympic team; runner-up Dencho Denev of Bulgaria and third-place finisher Hynek Hromada of Czechoslovakia also competed in Mexico City.

The Republic of China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Israel, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay, and Vietnam each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 11th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the 1900 event.

Markkanen used a TsKIB SOO MЦ55. The most popular pistol, used by over two thirds of the shooters, was the German Hämmerli. The Soviet weapon was used by 16% and the Austrian pistol by 6%. The American team used custom weapons designed by Franklin Green, who had competed in the event in 1964 but did not make the United States team in 1968.[4]

Competition format

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Each shooter fired 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. Any pistol was permitted. Shoot-offs were held to break ties for top ranks.[4][5]

Records

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

World record  Anton Jasinsky (URS) 566 Bucharest, Romania 1955
Olympic record  Aleksey Gushchin (URS)
 Väinö Markkanen (FIN)
560 Rome, Italy
Tokyo, Japan
6 September 1960
18 October 1964

Grigory Kosykh and Heinz Mertel broke the Olympic record, tying at 562 before a shoot-off.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Friday, 18 October 1968 8:30 Final

Results

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Rank Shooter Nation Score Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Grigory Kosykh  Soviet Union 562 OR
Shoot-off: 30
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Heinz Mertel  West Germany 562 OR
Shoot-off: 26
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Harald Vollmar  East Germany 560
4 Arnold Vitarbo  United States 559
5 Paweł Małek  Poland 556
6 Helmut Artelt  East Germany 555
7 Nelson Oñate  Cuba 555
8 Neagu Bratu  Romania 554
9 Matti Patteri  Finland 554
10 Vladimir Stolypin  Soviet Union 552
11 Lucian Giuşcă  Romania 552
12 Ernst Stoll  Switzerland 550
13 John Rødseth  Norway 550
14 Hynek Hromada  Czechoslovakia 550
15 William Hare  Canada 549
16 Don Hamilton  United States 549
17 Yoshihisa Yoshikawa  Japan 548
18 Hubert Garschall  Austria 547
19 Tüdeviin Myagmarjav  Mongolia 547
20 Jørgen Gabrielsen  Denmark 547
21 Leif Larsson  Sweden 546
22 Seppo Saarenpää  Finland 546
23 Albert Späni  Switzerland 546
24 Dencho Denev  Bulgaria 545
25 László Mucza  Hungary 545
26 Börje Nilsson  Sweden 544
27 Jaroslav Veselý  Czechoslovakia 544
28 Rajmund Stachurski  Poland 544
29 Charles Sexton  Great Britain 543
30 Nico Klein  Luxembourg 543
31 Jules Sobrian  Canada 543
32 Louis Vignaud  France 543
33 José Amedo  Spain 542
34 An Jae-song  South Korea 541
35 Barry Downs  Australia 541
36 Leopoldo Martínez  Mexico 540
37 Edgar Espinoza  Venezuela 540
38 Bertram Manhin  Trinidad and Tobago 539
39 Gerardo Castañeda  Guatemala 537
40 Niels Dahl  Denmark 536
41 Juan García  Spain 534
42 Antonio Vita  Peru 533
43 Hồ Minh Thu  Vietnam 533
44 Sutham Aswanit  Thailand 533
45 Kim Yong-bae  South Korea 532
46 Arturo Costa  Cuba 530
47 Michael Marton  Israel 530
48 Enrique Barragán  Uruguay 529
49 Javier Peregrina  Mexico 528
50 Shigeto Kusunoki  Japan 528
51 Paul Musso  France 527
52 Türker Özenbaş  Turkey 526
53 Chen Jeng-gang  Chinese Taipei 525
54 Walter Vera  Uruguay 524
55 Durval Guimarães  Brazil 524
56 Cheng Chi-sen  Chinese Taipei 521
57 Dương Văn Dan  Vietnam 519
58 Tito Castillo  El Salvador 519
59 Francisco Sandoval  Guatemala 519
60 Antonio Mendoza  Philippines 514
61 José Agdamag  Philippines 514
62 Marcus Loader  Great Britain 512
63 José González  Puerto Rico 511
64 Amorn Yuktanandana  Thailand 511
65 Kurt Meyer  West Germany 506
66 Loh Kok Heng  Singapore 499
67 Antonio Mora  Costa Rica 499
68 Rodrigo Ruiz  Costa Rica 485
69 Miguel Barasorda  Puerto Rico 481

References

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  1. ^ "Shooting at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Mixed Free Pistol, 50 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Shooting". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Historical Results". issf-sports.org. International Shooting Sport Federation. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Free Pistol, 50 Metres, Open". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  5. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, p. 430.