Jin of South Korea surges to win men's 50-meter pistol
12/8/2008 16:58
Jin Jong Oh from South Korea surged up in the men's 50-meter pistol final,
winning the Olympic gold at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall today with 660.4
points.
The silver medal was gained by Kim Jong Su, 31, from DPR Korea with
660.2 points while Chinese veteran shooter Tan Zongliang received a bronze with
659.5 points.
The competition was full of suspension.
Jin, the 29-year-old
Athens silver medalist, shared the same qualification score of 563 points with
four other shooters, including Kim from DPR Korea who won a bronze at Athens. In
front of them was Chinese four-time Olympian Tan with 565.
In the first shot
of the final, Tan stunned spectators with a 7.9, losing his advantage and
dropped to the second. Leading position was taken up by Jin who made a 10.3,
highest among all finalists.
In the second shot, Jin maintained his momentum
to score a 10.5, while Tan further plunged to the fourth with a 9.2.
The
third shot saw Tan regaining his sharpness a little bit to make a 10.2. He rose
to the third but was still 1.3 points behind the leading Jin.
Amid
expectation of Chinese spectators who applauded to encourage him, Tan
unfortunately made an 8.1 in the fourth shot and fell to the fifth.
Jin was
no better than him. With an 8.5, he swooped to the third. Pavol Kopp from
Slovakia progressed to the first and Oleg Omelchuk from Ukraine went to the
second.
In the following five shots, both Jin and Tan mustered up their
strength to regain their positions as No. 1 and No. 2.
Before the last shot,
there was a 1.9-point gap between the duo.
The South Korean shooter seemed to
be out of gear in the last shot. His score, an 8.2, incurred regretful
hiss.
Tan, the 2002 and 2006 World Championships gold medalist, had his
chance. If he could score a 10.2, he would be the champion.
The 37-year-old
raised his gun. Spectators held their breath.
He fired. A 9.2.
With the
score, he not only lost the chance to be crowned, but surrendered his second
place to Kim.
However, this was the first Olympic medal for the veteran
shooter.
"I am quite happy to get my first Olympic medal finally," Tan said.
"I have tried my best."
Then he added emotionally, "I've trained for 23
years, 16 of which I spent on the national team. This time I felt myself closest
to the gold."
"It's a little embarrassing and harsh that I only got a
bronze," he continued. "But if this Olympics is my last, this medal could wrap
up my shooting career. I am satisfied with myself. I have no
regrets."
Talking about his first bad shot, he said, "I had been in a hurry.
But on the whole, my control was OK."
Kim appeared unhappy about the
result.
"I made every effort to get the gold, but it was a silver. I will
continue to compete with everybody to get the gold, and keep doing my
best."
Like destined, Jin and Kim had been tied together in many
competitions.
At the Athens Olympics, the pair won silver and bronze
respectively in the event.
On this past Saturday, they were runner-up and
third in the men's 10-meter air pistol discipline.
This time Jin said, "I am
very happy to get this gold medal. I am happy to get it with Kim. He is a good
shooter, but I am luckier."
Jin has caught a cold and was coughing from time
to time at the qualification round.
"Sorry to shooters around me," he said,
adding that coughing helped him to relax.
The champion was dissatisfied with
his preliminary performance. "But the coach told me to relax and take it easy.
Maybe that's the reason to get the gold."
Kopp and Omelchuk finished as sixth
and fifth respectively.
Russian shooter, the hopeful Mikhail Nestruev, ranked
24th in the qualification with 552 points, out of the final. Another Chinese
shooter Lin Zhongzai got a 555, also away from the final.
Xinhua
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