How Korean Shooting, Lost in Tokyo, Bounced Back [Paris Olympics]

Two Gold Medals and Two Silver Medals Won in Three Days
Shaking Off Poor Performance in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo
Changing Selection System, Adding 'Knockdown' Finals
Practicing in Environment Similar to Local Shooting Range

Korean shooting, which had underperformed in the last two Olympics, rebounded at the 2024 Paris Olympics. As of the 29th (local time), after three days of shooting events, Korea has won two gold medals and two silver medals. This already surpasses the achievements of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics (one gold, one silver) and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (one silver). It is close to the record set at the 2012 London Olympics, which was the best performance in history (three golds, two silvers).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The team delivered results beyond expectations from the start. On the 27th, at the Ch?teauroux Shooting Center, twenty-four-year-old teammates Park Ha-jun (KT) and Geum Ji-hyun (Gyeonggi Provincial Government) won the silver medal in the 10m air rifle mixed event. Geum Ji-hyun smiled and said, "There are so many strong countries, so I thought it would be good just to win a bronze."

The next day, Oh Ye-jin (IBK Industrial Bank) and Kim Ye-ji (Imsil County Office) won gold and silver medals respectively in the 10m air pistol event. This was the first time in 12 years since Jin Jong-oh (gold) and Choi Young-rae (silver) won gold and silver in the 50m pistol at the 2012 London Olympics.

On the 29th, Korea’s youngest Olympic medalist in shooting history was born (16 years, 10 months, and 18 days old). Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Physical Education High School) won the gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle final after a shoot-off against Huang Weiting (China). She became the winner of Korea’s 100th gold medal in Summer Olympics history.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The reason shooting has returned as a strong event lies in the changed selection process. After failing to win a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Korea Shooting Federation completely overhauled the national team system. Previously, there were five rounds of preliminaries. Athletes’ scores were summed after excluding the lowest score to determine the ranking. This time, a 'knockdown' style final was held where one athlete was eliminated after each round following the preliminaries. Athletes had to overcome the tension typical of the Olympics or Asian Games.

The improvement focused not just on achieving high scores but on what kind of scores were made. In shooting, even if an athlete scores high in the preliminaries, they often fail to maintain momentum in the finals. To approach a medal, one must combine boldness and crisis management. Considering this, the Korea Shooting Federation formed committees for each event. They gathered opinions from coaches of each team and established an appropriate standard to reflect final scores in the selection process.

At the same time, the federation gave the national team coach the authority to boldly change the selection combinations. This was unimaginable just a few years ago because it could cause fairness disputes among athletes. However, there was consensus that to get close to medals, the coach’s judgment must be fully trusted, so the restrictions were lifted. In fact, two days before the 10m air rifle mixed event, the team changed the pairing from Park Ha-jun and Ban Hyo-jin to Park Ha-jun and Geum Ji-hyun, winning the silver medal.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Another key factor in success was that athletes practiced in environments similar to the actual shooting range. In April, the Korea Shooting Federation dispatched three coaches to the Ch?teauroux Shooting Center. They collected various information about the structure and environment and created a training facility as similar as possible by incorporating virtual reality (VR) technology. Chief coach Jang Gap-seok said, "We created a somewhat harsh atmosphere to train athletes to overcome difficult conditions."

Thanks to precise and meticulous support, athletes recognized the urgency and focused on training. A Korea Shooting Federation official said, "This time, there was a definite atmosphere that we must win gold no matter what. Since good results came early, other athletes seem to have ridden the momentum. It’s similar to the London Olympics."

At the London Olympics, Jin Jong-oh won two gold medals in the 10m air pistol and 50m pistol events. In the women-only 25m pistol event, Kim Jang-mi won gold. Choi Young-rae in the 50m pistol and Kim Jong-hyun in the 50m rifle added silver medals.

There is also a high possibility of additional medals in this competition. Lee Eun-seo (Seosan City Hall), competing in the women’s 50m rifle three positions on the 31st, is in excellent condition. Yang Ji-in (Korea National Sport University) and Kim Ye-ji, participating in the women’s 25m pistol the following day, are also considered close to the medal zone. Besides these, the mixed air pistol and men’s rapid-fire pistol events are recognized for their high-level skills, raising expectations for another golden shot.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.