Cho Yeong-jae was on target for silver in the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol shooting at the Paris Olympics on Monday for South Korea's sixth medal in the sport. Cho finished in second place behind Li Yuehong of China, 32-25, at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris. With Cho's medal, South Korea has now won more shooting medals at the Paris Games than at any other Olympics before. The country had previously won five medals at the 2012 London Olympics with three golds and two silvers. The 25m rapid fire final was contested over eight series of five shots, with a four-second limit on each series. Each shot within the 9.7 zone was a hit that counted as one point, and each miss of the zone was zero point. The elimination of the lowest-scoring finalists began after the fourth series and continued until the eighth series, when the gold and silver medals were decided. Cho managed three hits in each of his first two series, and then went a perfect 5-for-5 in the third series to jump to a three-way tie for second place. Cho then grabbed the lead with four hits in the fourth series, moving to 15 hits overall. Cho remained in first place thanks to four hits in the fifth series. However, Cho dropped to second place after only getting two hits in the sixth series, while Li reached the top with five hits. With three shooters remaining in the seventh series, it was Li leading with 23, Cho in second with 21 and Wang Xinjie of China in third with 20. After Wang got three hits for 23, Cho needed at least three hits to secure at least the silver. He did just that to get to 24 hits overall, and it was Li, now at 27, and Cho battling for the gold. Li needed at least three hits to clinch the gold, and went 5-for-5 to get the job done at 32 hits. Cho, perhaps sensing his fate had already been sealed, got just one hit in his final series to take the silver medal. Cho stuck his tongue out and smiled after bringing the country its record-setting medal. Cho said afterward he felt fortunate to have c ome away with a medal because he didn't do some of the things he was supposed to. "Things didn't go the way I wanted to at first, but it all worked out in the end," Cho said with a smile. "I never imagined I would win an Olympic medal so early. I thought maybe I could do it in LA in 2028. I am so lucky that I won this medal today." South Korea only managed one silver medal in shooting at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but enjoyed a huge turnaround in France just three years later. South Korea's very first medal of the Paris Olympics came from shooting, a silver medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, and Cho said it set the tone for the rest of the shooting team. "The team's morale has been high right from the beginning," Cho said. "There was a bit of pressure to keep up the momentum, but I fed off some positive energy from my teammates." Cho is serving in the military and is about a month away from his discharge. If he had won his Olympic medal before enlisting in the military, Cho would have received an e xemption. Instead, he is eligible for an immediate discharge once he returns home. But Cho said he plans to finish out his time in the armed forces. "I love my unit and I love my friends there," said Cho, whose father recently retired after a 30-year career as a non-commissioned officer. "I am looking forward to seeing them again." Source: Yonhap News Agency
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