The following are the results of the 50 metre running target competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Various types of a running target event had been held on and off throughout the history of the Olympics. It was last in the Olympics in 1956 where it was a 100 metre running deer event. This event often consisted as a running deer target at several speeds and distances, but at these games it was contested as a running boar shot at 50 metres at two speeds. The gold medal went to Yakiv Zheleznyak of the Soviet Union. He broke the world record in event with a score of 569. The silver medal went to Helmut Bellingrodt of Colombia this was the first Olympic medal won by a Colombian athlete.