Shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 yard pistol

The men's individual revolver and pistol competition was one of 15 shooting sports events on the shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme.[1] The competition was held on Friday, 10 July 1908. Each nation could enter up to 12 shooters.[2] Forty-three sport shooters from seven nations competed. Nations were limited to 12 shooters each.[3] The event was won by Paul Van Asbroeck of Belgium, with his countryman Réginald Storms taking silver. They were the first medals for Belgian shooters in the free pistol. American James Gorman finished with the bronze medal after an unsuccessful protest, claiming he had put one bullet through a previous hole.[4]

Men's 50 yard pistol
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
United States team; bronze medalist Gorman seated at far left
VenueBisley rifle range
Date10 July
Competitors43 from 7 nations
Winning score490
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Paul Van Asbroeck
 Belgium
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Réginald Storms
 Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) James Gorman
 United States
← 1900
1912 →

Background

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This was the third appearance of what would become standardised as the men's 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 open to women from 1968 to 1980. 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.[5][4]

Great Britain and Sweden each made their debut in the event. Belgium, France, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United States each made their second appearance, tied for most of any nation.

Van Asbroeck used a Sauveur HS-6.

Competition format

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The competition had each shooter fire 60 shots, in 10 series of 6 shots each, at a distance of 50 yards. 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 revolver or pistol could be used; only open sights were allowed. Any ammunition with a metal cartridge case could be used.[4]

Records

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

World record
Olympic record   Karl Röderer (SUI) 503 Paris, France 1 August 1900

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Friday, 10 July 1908 Final

Results

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Sixty shots were fired at a distance of 50 yards. Each hit counted between 1 and 10 points, for a total maximum score of 600.

Rank Shooter Nation Score
  Paul Van Asbroeck   Belgium 490
  Réginald Storms   Belgium 487
  James Gorman   United States 485
4 Charles Axtell   United States 480
5 Jesse Wallingford   Great Britain 467
6 André Barbillat   France 466
7 William Ellicott   Great Britain 458
8 Irving Calkins   United States 457
9 John Dietz   United States 455
10 André Regaud   France 451
11 Geoffrey Coles   Great Britain 449
12 Jacob van der Kop   Netherlands 447
13 Henry Lynch-Staunton   Great Britain 443
14 William Russell Lane-Joynt   Great Britain 442
15 René Englebert   Belgium 441
16 William Newton   Great Britain 440
17 Léon Moreaux   France 438
18 Franz-Albert Schartau   Sweden 436
19 Thomas LeBoutillier   United States 436
20 Vilhelm Carlberg   Sweden 432
21 Reginald Sayre   United States 430
22 Jean Depassio   France 427
23 Charles Wirgman   Great Britain 425
24 Piet ten Bruggen Cate   Netherlands 421
25 Frangiskos Mavrommatis   Greece 419
26 Alexandros Theofilakis   Greece 409
27 Johan Hübner von Holst   Sweden 408
28 Peter Jones   Great Britain 407
29 Ioannis Theofilakis   Greece 406
30 Léon Lécuyer   France 401
31 J. Nelson Fevre   Great Britain 399
32 Defkalion Rediadis   Greece 397
33 Eric Carlberg   Sweden 396
34 Maurice Robion du Pont   France 391
35 Otto von Rosen   Sweden 386
36 Jan de Blécourt   Netherlands 381
37 Jacques Pinchart   Belgium 372
38 Walter W. Winans   United States 368
39 Henry Munday   Great Britain 358
40 Gerard van den Bergh   Netherlands 343
41 Christiaan Brosch   Netherlands 337
42 John Bashford   Great Britain 329
43 Antonie de Gee   Netherlands 226

References

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  1. ^ "Shooting at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Free Pistol, 50 yards". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 38.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 535.
  4. ^ a b c "Free Pistol, 50 Yards, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Historical Results". issf-sports.org. International Shooting Sport Federation. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

Sources

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  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Shooting 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 11 May 2006.