Before the last shot at the Junior Men's 10m Air Pistol final at the World Championship in Granada, Spain, Choe Boram of the Republic of Korea, 17, was just about to take the last step on his smooth road to the gold. He was holding a relatively safe lead, 1.3 points ahead of Germany's Alexander Kindig, 19, as there was only one shot left. Kindig had been in first place for good part of the match, but his early, solid advantage had kept shrinking throughout the rounds, until Choe overcame him. Kindig's teammates, who had been loudly cheering from the stands, were now quiet.
But Choe can't make that last step. An 8.6 means that he's not really done it. His total score is 198.7. Now Kindig needs a 9.9 to reach him, and a 10.0 to take his first position back. Kindig hits a 10.3, and you don't need to look at the scoreboard to know that; Germans in the crowd wildly erupt with joy as their fellow countryman has brought home the gold, scoring 199.1 points.
“I was very nervous,” Kindig said. “I think I caught my breath and had a good last shot. I don't know [how I overcame the pressure]. It just happened.”
The cheering wasn't a distraction, Kindig explained. “It was very motivating,” he said, thanking his friends for their support.
“Discipline [is the hardest thing]. You [must] go on and on training, and never give up. Just forcing yourself to train hard.”
Kindig was a bronze medalist at the European Championships in Moscow earlier this year.
After engaging in a very close contest with Kindig and Choe, Latvia's Lauris Strautmanis claimed bronze (177.8). He couldn't keep up with his opponents' strong records, but he shot well, and closed with a 10.1.
TEAM
Strautmanis' teammate Vasermanis was fourth (157.8). The two of them, together with Kristaps Smilga, gained Team gold for Latvia as they added up to 1718 points, with 49 inner tens (or “x”) in the qualification round. China's Qian, who was seventh in the final (96.9), teamed up with Zhang and Wu to take silver for their country (1714-42x). Silver medalist Choe compensated for the missed gold, as he helped Korea reach Team bronze (1710-38x) with the contributions of Kang (575-15x) and Choi (559-10x).