After a difficult time at the last two Olympic Games, South Korea’s shooting program is proving to be a traditional favorite at the Paris 2024 Games.
On the second day of the shooting events at the Paris Games, South Korea has already won three medals, one gold and two silver.
They have already surpassed their results from Rio de Janeiro 2016 (1 gold, 1 silver) and Tokyo 2020 (1 silver), and are now aiming to match their best performance in the history of the sport at London 2012 (3 gold, 2 silver).
South Korean shooting got off to a good start at the Games.
On Sunday, Park Ha-joon (KT) and Koo Ji-hyun (Gyeonggi-do) shared silver in the 10-meter air rifle mixed event at the Shatoru Shooting Center.
The duo exceeded expectations in their first medal event of the tournament.
“Honestly, I thought a bronze medal would be good enough. The mixed air rifle event was not an easy event to win a medal in, as there were so many strong countries, so we aimed to finish fourth (in the main competition) and go through to the bronze medal match.”
The 24-year-old duo of Park Ha-joon and Ban Ban-hyun showed the world the power of Korean shooting with a fantastic performance from the preliminary round to the final.
On the 28th, the golden shot rang out after an eight-year wait.
Oh Ye-jin (IBK) and Kim Ye-ji (Imsil County Office) swept to gold and silver, respectively, in the 10-meter air pistol event.
This is the first time in 12 years that a Korean shooter has won both gold and silver at the Olympics since Jin Jong-oh (gold) and Choi Young-rae (silver) in the 50-meter pistol at London 2012.
Oh also brought gold back to Korean shooting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the sport was a “no-gold” medalist.
Now, Korean shooting is cautiously eyeing its best ever result.
Three gold and two silver medals in London.
In London, “shooting emperor” Jin Jong-oh won two gold medals in the 10-meter air pistol and 50-meter pistol, while Kim Jang-mi won a surprise gold in the women’s 25-meter pistol event.
Choi Young-Rae in 50-meter pistol and Kim Jong-Hyun in 50-meter rifle prone added silver medals.
In Paris, Korea’s shooting team still has some medal hopes.
Immediately, on the 29th, “high school girl rifleman” Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Chego) will be aiming for gold in the women’s 10-meter air rifle final.
Yang Ji-in (Korea Gymnastics University) and Kim Ye-ji (Korea Gymnastics Federation) in the 25-meter pistol and Lee Eun-seo (Seosan City Government) in the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position will also be in medal contention.
The mixed air pistol and men’s rapid-fire pistol are also medal-worthy events, so if a few more ‘golden shots’ ring out, a record-breaking performance is not out of the question. 토토사이트 추천