About ISSF Pistol Shooting
The International Shooting Sport Federation is the global governing body for the sport of shooting, which includes rifle, pistol and shotgun. The ISSF website is a mine of useful information - and I use the word ‘mine’ advisedly; sometimes you have to dig around a bit to find what you want…
Here is a detailed overview of the Olympic disciplines. From a pistol perspective, the Olympic disciplines are 10m Air Pistol (for men and women) and 25m Rapid Fire pistol (men) and 25m Sport Pistol (women), with a mixed pairs team event in the 10m Air Pistol as well. The Mixed Pairs is a relatively new feature and has been very well received – Mixed Pairs finals are exciting and fun for competitors and spectators. Sadly though, the premium pistol event, 50m Free Pistol, has been dropped from the Olympics, although it is still shot at some World Cups and other international, national and domestic competitions.
Below is a very rough outline of the course of fire for each event, for more details see the ISSF website.