Published on 12 Aug 2008
50m Pistol Men Final: JIM and KIM again on the podium together
Marco Dalla Dea
JIN Jong Oh of Korea and KIM Jong Su of PRK finished again on the podium together in the 50m Pistol Men final winning Gold and Silver. They had won Silver and Bronze at the 10m Air Pistol match two days ago. The two shooters shared the podium also at the Olympic Games of Athens. China’s hope TAN Zongliang won Bronze <em>“My first Olympic medal at my fourth participation. I cannot believe it!”</em>
JIN Jong Oh of Korea and KIM Jong Su of PRK finished again on the podium together, winning Gold and Silver respectively in the 50m Pistol Men Event at the Olympic Shooting Hall of Beijing.
The two shooters won today their second medal at these Games, after the Silver and the Bronze they gained at the 10m Air Pistol Final two days ago. JIN and KIM are bound together in their shooting career: they had shared the podium also at the last Games of Athens 2004, when they had placed in second and third on the 50m Pistol Men event.
“I though I wasn’t going to do well today - said the Gold medallist JIN – "My coach told me not to be greedy right before the final: I had a bad qualification and I was far from the medals. Those words really helped me!” KIM, starting form the sixth place on the start list, climbed up the scoreboard firing excellent shots “I had a feeling that I might have been in the top three, but I did not know for sure”
The Korean athlete had won Silver in Athens, missing the brightest medal because of an unlucky final shot in the sixth ring. Today, after remounting his disadvantage from the firsts, he closed the round with a thrilling 8.2, a disappointing shot for a champion, and risked to jeopardize his Olympic competition once again “I watched at the monitor of the results. I saw I had fired an 8.2 and I said to myself “Did I fall again?” but luckily I had enough advantage on the followers!” With total score of 660.4 points (563+97.4) JIN stood on the highest step of the podium, reaching his third Olympic medal.
KIM Su of PRK placed in second only two tenths of a point behind JIN, with a total score of 600.2 (563+97.2) “We always meet in important competition - commented JIN about this podium - Mr. KIM is an excellent shooter, and maybe today I have been only lucky to finish in first ahead of him. I hope I will compete with him and TAN again in the future..”
The current World Champion, China’s hope TAN Zongliang, gained Bronze with 659.9 points (565+94.5). The 36-year old shooter started in first place with two points of advantage, but slid down in third place after firing a first shot of 7.9 points “I am happy. I am comfortable with the Bronze” said TAN after the medal ceremony “These are my fourth Olympic Games, I had never won an Olympic medal before, and I wanted to gain something for my country. I am shooting since 23 years, the Beijing shooting range has become my home…”.
The favourite Vladimir ISAKOV finished the match in fourth place, after shooting off against Oleg OMELCHUK of Ukraine, fifth today, while the leader of the World Ranking Joao COSTA of Portugal did not make the final and placed in 33rd “Unlucky day, unlucky shots” commented the athlete.
“I though I wasn’t going to do well today - said the Gold medallist JIN – "My coach told me not to be greedy right before the final: I had a bad qualification and I was far from the medals. Those words really helped me!” KIM, starting form the sixth place on the start list, climbed up the scoreboard firing excellent shots “I had a feeling that I might have been in the top three, but I did not know for sure”
The Korean athlete had won Silver in Athens, missing the brightest medal because of an unlucky final shot in the sixth ring. Today, after remounting his disadvantage from the firsts, he closed the round with a thrilling 8.2, a disappointing shot for a champion, and risked to jeopardize his Olympic competition once again “I watched at the monitor of the results. I saw I had fired an 8.2 and I said to myself “Did I fall again?” but luckily I had enough advantage on the followers!” With total score of 660.4 points (563+97.4) JIN stood on the highest step of the podium, reaching his third Olympic medal.
KIM Su of PRK placed in second only two tenths of a point behind JIN, with a total score of 600.2 (563+97.2) “We always meet in important competition - commented JIN about this podium - Mr. KIM is an excellent shooter, and maybe today I have been only lucky to finish in first ahead of him. I hope I will compete with him and TAN again in the future..”
The current World Champion, China’s hope TAN Zongliang, gained Bronze with 659.9 points (565+94.5). The 36-year old shooter started in first place with two points of advantage, but slid down in third place after firing a first shot of 7.9 points “I am happy. I am comfortable with the Bronze” said TAN after the medal ceremony “These are my fourth Olympic Games, I had never won an Olympic medal before, and I wanted to gain something for my country. I am shooting since 23 years, the Beijing shooting range has become my home…”.
The favourite Vladimir ISAKOV finished the match in fourth place, after shooting off against Oleg OMELCHUK of Ukraine, fifth today, while the leader of the World Ranking Joao COSTA of Portugal did not make the final and placed in 33rd “Unlucky day, unlucky shots” commented the athlete.