In the qualifier, each shooter fired 60 shots with a pistol at 25 metres distance.

Bulgaria's Mariya Grozdeva smashed a new Olympic record at 688.2 to defend her title in sport pistol shooting, putting her ahead of 19-year-old eventual silver medalist Lenka Hyková of the Czech Republic (687.8) by just a 0.4-point lead.

[1][2] Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's Irada Ashumova, who had notched the first seed earlier in the prelims, claimed the bronze with 687.3 points.

[3] Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

PR — Precision stage; RF — Rapid fire stage In 2001, 25 metre pistol final shooting switched to rapid fire style.