The event consisted of two rounds: a qualifier and a final. In the qualifier, each shooter fired 40 shots with an air pistol at 10 metres distance. Scores for each shot were in increments of 1, with a maximum score of 10.
The top 8 shooters in the qualifying round moved on to the final round. There, they fired an additional 10 shots. These shots scored in increments of .1, with a maximum score of 10.9. The total score from all 50 shots was used to determine final ranking.
19-year-old Ukrainian shooter Olena Kostevych came from behind to outplay Serbia and Montenegro's five-time Olympian and a previous Olympic champion Jasna Šekarić in a one-shot tiebreaker 10.2 to 9.4 for the gold medal in air pistol shooting, as a result of their draw in a 10-shot final round for first place with a score of 483.3 points.[1][2] Meanwhile, the bronze medal was awarded to Bulgaria's Mariya Grozdeva, who beat China's current world record holder Ren Jie in another shoot-off 10.4 to 9.8, after having been tied in the final at 482.3, just one point behind the two medalists.[1][3]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
