Crack shot Kim Jang-mi won South Korea’s first women’s shooting gold in 20 years in the 25m pistol on Wednesday as the Asian nation drew level with China and the US on two golds each.
Kim came close to blowing a gaping lead as inspired defending champion Chen Ying edged ahead with just one series of shots to go, but she held her nerve, with Chen taking silver and Olena Kostevych of Ukraine winning bronze.
The 19-year-old, only the second South Korean woman to win a gold medal in shooting after Yeo Kab-soon, who won the women’s 10m air rifle in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992, said knowing she was so close to losing out on gold inspired one final effort.
Photo: AFP
“Actually for the moment I thought that I’d lost gold and then I thought that if I go to bed tonight with a silver medal then I would feel really bad, and I thought that I would just concentrate more,” Kim said.
Kim said before she traveled to London she wanted to show that South Korea’s women were just as competitive as the men.
The South Korean, who set the world record in London in April, enjoyed a healthy lead going into the final after topping qualifying with an Olympic record 591 points, five clear of Thailand’s Tanyaporn Prucksakorn.
Chen, who started the final six points adrift of Kim, put the South Korean under huge pressure, outpointing her in the first three series of five shots to lead by 0.8 points going into the fourth and final series, but Kim found her form to claw back the deficit and secure gold with a total score of 792.4, a point ahead of Chen.
“During the process I didn’t really know the changes in ranking and I was just following my coach’s instructions, trying to concentrate on what I was doing,” Chen said.
Bronze for Kostevych was her second medal of the London Games after she took bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol.
Taiwan’s Tien Chia-chen finished 16th, with just the top eight qualifying for the final.
Kim’s gold came after Jin Jong-oh won the men’s 10m air pistol. Out of seven golds so far, South Korea, China and the US have two each, while Romania have one.
Additional reporting by Staff writer
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS