'The secret to the resurgence of shooting in Korea is mobile phone-coffee-cigarettes'3C ban'
Jul 30, 2024
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Ban Hyo-jin of the women's 10-meter air rifle and Oh Ye-jin of the air pistol have already won two gold medals. Mixed air rifle Park Ha-joon and Geum Ji-hyun, and air pistol Kim Ye-ji also added one silver medal each. It far exceeded the original target of '1 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals'. It's not over yet. The women's 25-meter pistol, which was originally considered the main event of the tournament, remains. Yang Ji-in and Kim Ye-ji are both considered gold medal candidates. More than the 2012 London Games, which had the best record with three gold medals and two silver medals, could be possible.
In fact, Korean shooting faced a dark age after Jin Jong-oh retired from shooting. It had previously been a traditional filial sport with seven gold medals, but it went downhill with the departure of 'Ace'. At the Tokyo Games, he won only one silver medal, and at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, he did not win a single gold medal in the Olympic event. Feeling a sense of crisis, the South Korean shooting team has launched a revamp.
He changed the national team selection match from now on. Until last year, the Olympic team had played only five finals. The national team was selected only by the score of the finals. In the finals, scores are added up by shooting dozens of shots within a set time. However, in international competitions, our players often shot well in the finals and slipped in the finals. In the final round, one person is eliminated for every two shots after 10 shots.
After five finals, the final round of the tournament was held once more, with the top eight players in each event eliminated one by one like the Olympics. Additional points were given to this, and players who were strong in the finals were selected from the beginning. Generational change took place naturally with the new selection system. Newcomers were selected in large numbers. Nine of the 16 participants in the Olympics were born in the 2000s.
The Korea Shooting Federation has actively supported this. Ahead of the Olympics, it helped players feel familiar with the Chatoru Shooting Center in France, where the games will be held. The Shooting Federation and the Korea Sports Policy Research Institute have visited Chatoru in advance and filmed all over the stadium with VR (virtual reality) devices. From the entrance to Saro, the location of the bathroom and the lighting angle were reproduced in VR in detail, allowing players to experience the stadium in advance from Korea.
The leadership of the 'Baekjeon veteran' team coach Armored Seok cannot be left out. Director Jang has taught students at Korea National Sports University for more than 30 years as a professor and is called the "teacher of all shooter". Lee Eun-cheol, a gold medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Games and chairman of the Federation's performance improvement committee, brought Professor Roh, who is about to retire, as a director. Chang, dubbed the `Tiger' coach, dominated the team in a short period of time with his powerful charisma. The first principle was '3C Prohibition'. During training, he was not allowed to use cell phones and enjoy coffee and cigarettes. There was also a restraining order. Coach Jang took the initiative first. Chang, a heavy drinker who calls himself '400 of the 365 days a drinker', did not drink a drop of alcohol upon his appointment. "The leader should lead by example so that the players can follow." was due to the theory.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
