Wang Yifu
Encyclopedia
Wang Yifu is a male Chinese pistol shooter, and in terms of Olympic medals one of the most successful sport shooters of all times. He specializes in the 50 m Pistol
and 10 m Air Pistol
events.
Wang won his first Olympic medal in the Los Angeles
games at the age of 23. After this, the Air Pistol event was added to the program, and this is where he has achieved his greatest accomplishments. He won the 1992 gold medal only days after a new medal in the 50 m event. His three attempts to repeat the victory have provided impressive results and very tight duels:
Also in the ISSF World Shooting Championships
, Wang has won both 50 m Pistol (in 1994) and 10 m Air Pistol (in 1998).
50 m Pistol
50 metre pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called free pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting types, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since...
and 10 m Air Pistol
10 m Air Pistol
10 metre air pistol is an Olympic shooting event governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation . It is similar to 10 metre air rifle in that it is shot with 4.5 mm caliber air guns at a distance of 10 metres , and the programme consists of 60 shots within 105 minutes...
events.
Wang won his first Olympic medal in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
games at the age of 23. After this, the Air Pistol event was added to the program, and this is where he has achieved his greatest accomplishments. He won the 1992 gold medal only days after a new medal in the 50 m event. His three attempts to repeat the victory have provided impressive results and very tight duels:
- In 1996, Wang had a two-point pre-final lead over Roberto Di DonnaRoberto Di DonnaRoberto Di Donna is an Italian sports shooter and Olympic champion. He received a gold medal in 10 metre air pistol at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.-References:...
(ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), and seemed to be the clear winner until in the last shot he got only 6.5 (at a level where anything below 9.0 is considered a very bad shot), and lost the gold medal by the closest possible margin, 0.1 points. Related to this was a collapse due to medical issues coupled with the extreme heat in AtlantaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
that day. - In 2000, both Wang and Franck DumoulinFranck DumoulinFranck Dumoulin is a pistol shooter from Bordeaux, France.- Olympic Games :- World Championships :* 1994 World Championships :** Gold Medal in 10 m Air Pistol** Bronze Medal in 50 m Pistol...
(FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) scored 590 points and tied for a new Olympic record. Wang lost by two points in the final. - In the 2004 competitionShooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 m Air PistolThe men's 10 metre air pistol competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 14 at the Markópoulo Olympic Shooting Centre near Athens, Greece. Mikhail Nestruyev from Russia set a new Olympic record in the qualification round of 60 shots with 591 points, only two points from the world...
, Wang scored 590 once more, but lost the Olympic record to Mikhail NestruevMikhail NestruevMikhail Valeryevich Nestruyev is a pistol shooter from Moscow, Russia. He is an all-round shooter, having achieved great successes in all five ISSF pistol events. He holds the 25 metre center-fire pistol world record of 594...
(RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) who achieved 591. However, the Chinese managed to erase the small gap and eventually won by a margin of 0.2 points to get his second Olympic gold.
Also in the ISSF World Shooting Championships
ISSF World Shooting Championships
The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early competitions are still seen by the organization as...
, Wang has won both 50 m Pistol (in 1994) and 10 m Air Pistol (in 1998).