'Awesome Start' Paris' first medal came out! Park Ha-joon-Joo Geum-hyun, Shooting Mixed Air Rifle 'Secure Silver Medal'!

Jul 27, 2024

South Korea's shooting gave the South Korean team its first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Park Ha-joon (KT) and Geum Ji-hyun (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) ranked second with 631.4 points in the 10-meter mixed air rifle race held at Chatoru Shooting Center in France on the 27th (Korea time). Park Ha-joon and Geum Ji-hyun, who went straight to the gold medal match, secured a silver medal regardless of the outcome of the event that will follow shortly. The 10-meter air rifle mixed event drew attention as the first event in which medals were decided in time among the events in which the South Korean team participated, and it met expectations perfectly.

Korean shooting has been a regular player in the first Olympic medal. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Yeo Gap-soon won her first medal for the Korean team by winning an unexpected gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle, and Kang Cho-hyun, a high school student at the time, won her first medal in the same event in 2000. At the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games, `Shooting Emperor' Jin Jong-oh gave the Korean team its first medal with a silver medal and a gold medal in the men's 10-meter air pistol, respectively.

South Korea's shooting, which is aiming for one gold, two silver and three bronze medals, judged that the 10-meter air rifle mixed race was competitive enough considering the recent rise of athletes. The combination of Park Ha-joon and Ban Ki-hyun was put forward. Initially, it was expected that men's rifle ace Park Ha-joon and Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Sports High School) would pair up, but experienced Ban Ki-hyun changed members in good condition locally. The two have collaborated on a gold medal at the 2022 Baku World Cup.

The 10-meter air rifle mixed event was changed at the Paris Olympics. In the first round of the stage, eight teams with high combined scores will advance to the second round with 30 shots each from men and women, and unlike the Tokyo Games, where the gold and bronze finals were held through Stage 2 records, Stage 1 will be able to compete in the gold medal match. During the last Tokyo Games, Kwon Eun-ji and Nam Tae-yoon ranked second in Stage 1, but stayed third in Stage 2 and competed in the bronze medal match.

I've seen a lot of the changed regulations. Park Ha-joon and Geum Ji-hyun will compete for gold with the Chinese group, which shot 632.2, with 631.4 points. Park Ha-joon and Geum Ji-hyun finished first with a total of 211.1 points in the one-series of 10-shot shots. Until the second series, it remained in first place with a total of 421.3 points, but in the last three series, it allowed China to come from behind to finish the finals with 631.4 points.

In the medal match, the male and female athletes fired one shot each, and the scores were summed up, and the high team took two points, and the low team only scored zero points. If it's a tie, you'll get one point each. In this way, the team that reaches 16 points first wins.

Ban Hyo-jin, a high school shooter who competed in the same event, and his partner Choi Dae-sang (Gyeongnam National University) failed to win a medal by staying 22nd in the finals.

vanbasten@sportschosun.com