Shooter Jin wins record 3rd straight gold
South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh celebrates after winning a gold medal in the men’s 50m pistol at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday. With the gold, Jin became the world’s first shooter to win a third consecutive gold medal in a single shooting event. / Yonhap
Men's football team reaches quarterfinals
By Baek Byung-yeul
South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh, 36, won the gold medal in the men’s 50m pistol, Wednesday, becoming the world’s first shooter to win a third consecutive gold medal in a single shooting event.
At the Olympic Shooting Centre, Jin shot a score of 193.7 in the final. Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam took silver with 191.3 and Kim Song-guk of North Korea took bronze with 172.8.
The gold was the sharpshooter’s sixth Olympic medal, including four gold and two silver, tying him with former archer Kim Soo-nyung who brought the most Olympic medals to South Korea with six (four gold, one silver and one bronze).
Jin is now the first South Korean athlete to win gold in three straight Olympics following the 50m pistol in 2008 and 2012 and 10m air pistol in 2012. He also became the second shooter to win four straight medals in the same event, following China’s Wang Yifu who won medals in air pistol in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004.
In the final, Jin made a heroic comeback from the verge of being eliminated as he fired a dismal 6.6 in the middle of the event where the maximum score per shot is 10.9. After the critical misstep, however, Jin fired under 10 only one time in his final seven attempts, to set an Olympic record.
The shooting final also showed the true Olympic spirit as athletes from two Koreas shared the podium. At a press conference after the match, the bronze medalist Kim celebrated Jin’s gold saying “Jin Jong-oh is a world-renowned shooter.”
He also commented on the divided peninsula at an international sporting event. “If the two become one, then we would probably have one big medal at hand,” Kim said after the event. “And if we have the gold medal and the bronze medal both coming from one Korea, then it’d be something bigger.”
South Korea also added two bronze on day 5 in judo and fencing.
Judo has two more days left in Rio, but South Korea’s gold medal drought has continued through day 5 as the strong gold medal contender Gwak Dong-han could only clinch bronze in the men’s 90 kg class, beating Marcus Nyman of Sweden. World No.1 Gwak was expected to win the country’s first gold medal in the sport in Rio but lost to Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia in the semifinal.
In fencing, Kim Jung-hwan grabbed bronze in the men’s individual sabre, beating Mojtaba Abedini of Iran 15-8. It was South Korea’s second medal in fencing following Park Sang-young’s gold medal win in epee, Tuesday.
With Jin’s gold and the two bronze, South Korea has four gold, two silver and three bronze to place seventh in the gold medal tally. The United States maintained its lead with 11 gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze, followed by China with 10 gold, five silver and eight bronze, and Japan with six gold, one silver and 11 bronze.
A few hours after the shooting event, the South Korean men’s football team defeated Mexico 1-0 thanks to midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon’s 77th minute goal. With the win, the South Koreans, who garnered two wins (over Mexico and Fiji) and one draw (with Germany) in Group C, have reached their second straight Olympic quarterfinals following the 2012 London Olympics in which they won bronze.
South Korea’s next matchup will be against Honduras from Group D at Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Saturday. The two previously drew 2-2 during a friendly in June.
Elsewhere, Ku Bun-chan and Choi Mi-sun advanced to the round of 16 in the men and women’s individual archery events.
In women’s volleyball, South Korea trounced Argentina 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-23) in the team’s third Pool A match. Their next matchup will be the host Brazil, Friday.
The South Korean women’s handball team had a 32-32 draw with the Netherlands to remain in fifth place in Group A with one draw and two losses. They are scheduled to play France, Friday.
Meanwhile, swimmer Park Tae-hwan ended his Olympic run announcing he will pull out of the 1,500m freestyle event scheduled for Saturday. He will return to Seoul that day.