South Korea’s Jin Jong-oh completes the heroic comeback to win his third consecutive 50m pistol gold medal.
The 36-year-old becomes the first ever shooter, men’s or women’s, to win three straight gold medals in a single shooting event. This brings his total medals tally up to six; he also won silver in the event in the 2004 Athens Games.
In the middle of the final, the South Korean sharpshooter fired a dismal 6.6, and was extremely close to being eliminated. After that shot, he turned it on, only shooting under a 10 on one shot in his final seven attempts. He set an Olympic record with a 193.7 score.
The silver medalist was Vietnam’s Hoang Xuan Vinh, who was in the lead for almost the entire final. Going into the final two shots, he had only a 0.2 lead on Jong-oh. He finished with a final score of 191.3.
This is the second medal of Rio for Hoang, who won the gold in the 10m air pistol event. His gold medal was Vietnam’s first ever, and only their fourth ever medal.
North Korea’s Kim Song Guk held the lead at the beginning of the final, and was always near the top. When he exited with the bronze medal, he bowed to the crowd and received cheers for his valiant effort.
With both South Korea and North Korea sharing the podium, the true spirit of the Olympics was shown. A few days prior, gymnasts Hong Un Jong of North Korea and Lee Eun-ju of South Korea took the time to snap a selfie together.
The final standings are as follows:
1. Jin Jong-oh (South Korea)
2. Hoang Xuan Vinh (Vietnam)
3. Kim Song Guk (North Korea)
4. Han Seung-woo (South Korea)
5. Wang Zhiwei (China)
6. Vladimir Gontcharov (Russia)
7. Pavol Kopp (Slovakia)
8. Pang Wei (China)