Rapid-Fire Pistol, 25 metres, Men

The rapid-fire pistol event is still one of the most traditional shooting events at the Olympics. It was contested in this form for the 18th time in Tokyo, being part of the shooting program in all editions since 1924, except 1928 when no shooting events were held in Amsterdam. Only trap has been held more often with 23 editions, although it was not always on the program as it was not contested in 1932, 1936, and 1948.

The medallists from the 2018 World Championships, Lin Junmin (gold), Zhang Jian (silver), and Jean Quiquampoix (bronze), all competed in Tokyo. Quiquampoix was also the silver medallist from Rio, and the other two medallists, Christian Reitz and Li Yuehong, competed again in Tokyo. Reitz was, together with Kim Jun-Hong, the world record holder for the qualification round with 593 while Kim was the world record holder for the final round with 38 hits.

After the first day of qualification the two Frenchman Clement Bessaguet and Quiquampoix topped the field with 297 hits each. They were followed by Reitz in third place. On the second day Reitz moved to first position and won the qualification round, followed by Quiquampoix and Han Dae-Yun with Bessaguet down in seventh place. Unlike the three other pistol events held in Tokyo, only six shooters qualified for the final and the tie breaker for sixth place saw Li Yuehong qualified as he scored more inner 10s as Bessaguet and Dai Yoshioka.

In the final Reitz was eliminated after 25 shots and placed fifth. After 30 shots Han was eliminated after a shoot-off against Li, who finally won bronze. Leuris Pupo, competing in his sixth Games, won silver after moving up from eighth place on the first day to finish fifth in the qualification. Quiquampoix won gold with a final margin of five hits. He had taken the lead after 16 shots and led the field up to the end. This gave France their first Olympic shooting gold medal since 2000, when Franck Dumoulin won the 10 m air pistol event, and it was the first ever gold medal for France in this event. Along with his silver medal from Rio, Quiquampoix is the only French medallist in this event and was the only French shooting medallist in Tokyo. With Pupo already winning gold in 2012, and Li repeating his bronze medal from Rio, it meant all three medallists were previous medal-winners in this event.