Top picture is silver medalist Thomas Paine from the 1896 Summer games, the first year with a shooting competition. Bottom is gold medalist Vitalina Batsarashkina from the 2020 games.
https://www.ssusa.org/content/athens-1896-olympics-the-first-shots-for-record/
That’s a very long thumb.
The grip of the pistol has a nook in it, the handle at the top is much more narrow. It creates the illusion that her thumb is really long, but really most of her palm is behind the pistol grip because it’s so much wider at the base it hides it.
lol, I figured it must have been some sort of specialized handle, but thank you for taking the time explain and most importantly showing the other side of the gun.