Swedish shooting great Jonas Jacobsson collected his 14th Paralympic gold
medal yesterday as the United States and Britain were locked with seven gold
medals apiece at the top of the gold medal standings.
Host China was third on the ladder with five golds midway through Day Two.
Later in the day, there are 20 gold medals up for grab in judo, swimming and
athletics.
China, who topped the medals table with 63 golds in Athens 2004, is widely
expected to defend the honor at the end of the 11-day sporting event for elite
disabled athletes.
Jacobsson surpassed the eight-year-old world record by a huge margin this
morning in the men's 10m air rifle standing position in his disability class,
increasing his Paralympic medal tally to 14 gold, one silver and eight bronze
medals.
His qualification score of 596 was three points better than the old mark by
Jung Jin-won of South Korea at Sydney 2000. After 10 stunning final shots,
Jacobsson beat the world record for the final - 697.1 - by 3.4 points, which was
also set by Jung in Sydney.
Jacobsson, an eight-time Paralympian, earned more than 10 points, including a
bull's eye 10.9, which rarely happens in either Paralympic or Olympic
competitions.
"The main thing was to continue the streak. I've now won eight Paralympics in
a row. That was the main goal, and hopefully I can get another good result
here," said Jacobsson.
In Athens 2004, he snatched four gold medals, breaking eight world and
Paralympic records and eqauling four.
Jacobsson will compete in three other events - the men's 50m free rifle 3x40
standing SH1, the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 and the mixed 50m free rifle
prone SH1.
"Every competition is a new one. You have to focus," said Jacobsson.
"Everybody starts at zero, and you have to shoot your own shots."
China's Yao Juan claimed her second Paralympic gold when she won the women's
F42-46 javelin with a world record throw of 40.51 meters. The 24-year-old won
the gold in 2000 but finished a distant fifth in Athens four years ago.
Lin Haiyan, 45, grabbed the first gold in shooting for China with a victory
in the women's SH1 10-meter air pistol.
Athletes will compete over 11 days in 20 sports in five different categories
of disability, with a total of 472 gold medals awarded.
The Paralympics end on Sept. 17.
