Shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol

The 25 metre rapid fire pistol competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 21 at the Markópoulo Olympic Shooting Centre near Athens, Greece. Germany's Ralf Schumann managed to get his third Olympic gold, becoming the first in the event's history to do so. Russia's Sergei Polyakov finished second, with his countryman, defending champion Sergei Alifirenko third. This was the last Olympic competition before the major rule changes that took place on January 1, 2005, and which lowered the results of the event.

Qualification round

In rapid fire pistol, the qualification round consists of two identical stages. In most major competitions, these are divided into one day each, but in Athens, both stages were fired on the same day; the first between 09:00 and 11:15 local time, and the second between 11:20 and 13:30.

Alifirenko, Polyakov and Schumann all reached 592 points, a much higher result level than in Sydney, but still far from Schumann's Olympic record from Atlanta, 596. For positions 7 and down, the qualification results decide the shooter's final ranking. For the six finalists, their positions decide the starting order in the final, and they bring their qualification results with them, to which the final results are then added.

Q Qualified for final – ST1 Stage 1 – ST2 Stage 2

Final

From 1993 until 2004, the rapid fire pistol final consisted of two four-second series. The Athens final began at 14:30 local time. Schumann, a reputed master of finals, produced the best final shooting for the day and so also got the best aggregate score, and his third Olympic gold medal.

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