Korean athletes to shoot for 12 gold medals in Tokyo

Jin Jong-oh trains at Shin-gu University in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. He is aiming for his fifth gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The Korea Shooting Federation has announced the 15 athletes that will compete in 12 events at the Tokyo Olympics as part of the national shooting squad.

The 15 athletes were selected based on five rounds of qualifications in 10 different events, held from April 16 to 30 at the Changwon International Shooting Range.

Veteran shooter and four time gold medalist Jin Jong-oh is one of the 15 members of the national shooting squad.

Jin won four gold medals in three consecutive Olympics, in the 50-meter pistol at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, in the 10-meter air pistol and 50-meter pistol events at the 2012 London Games, and in 50-meter pistol at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Having won four gold and two silver medals, Jin is tied for first in Kora's all-time individual total medal and gold medal rankings, alongside archer Kim Soo-nyung.

This will be his fifth Summer Olympics, also making Jin the Korean to appear at the most Summer Olympics, alongside shooter Lee Eun-chul and handball players Oh Seong-ok, Oh Yong-Ran and Yoon Kyung-shin. Lee Kyou-hyuk holds the overall record, with six appearances at the Winter Olympics.

Kim Min-jung, the 2019 world No. 1 in 10-meter air pistol, earned her chance to compete at the Olympics. Back in 2016, she failed to advance to the 2016 Rio Olympics finals.

During qualifications, she had to concede the Olympic berth for the 10-meter pistol, which is normally her main event, but was able to qualify for the 25-meter pistol, an event that Kim Jang-mi brought back a surprise gold in at the 2012 London Olympics.

Kim Min-jung won silver in women’s 25-meter pistol in 2019, at the ISSF World Cup Final in Putian, China.

Korean athletes have qualified for five men’s events, five women’s events and two mixed events.

For the Men’s 50-meter rifle three positions event, Kim Sang-do will represent Korea. He will also compete in the 10-meter air rifle alongside Nam Tae-yun.

The men’s 10-meter air pistol will feature Jin Jong-oh and Kim Mo-se, and the 25-meter rapid fire pistol will feature Song Jong-ho and Han Dae-yoon.

Lee Jong-jun will compete in men’s skeet, an event where targets are thrown from traps.

For the women’s 50-meter rifle three positions event, Bae Sang-hee and Cho Eun-young will represent Korea, while Kwon Eun-ji and Park Hee-moon will compete in 10-meter air rifle.

The women’s 10-meter air pistol will feature Kim Bo-mi and Choo Ga-eun, and Kim Min-jung and Kim Bo-mi will compete in the women’s 25-meter pistol .

Kim Min-ji will contest the women’s skeet event.

Mixed events have been newly included in the Tokyo 2020 program, with eight Koreans looking to add two gold medals.

In the mixed 10-meter air rifle, Nam Tae-yun and Kwon Eun-ji will compete as a team, as will Kim Sang-do and Park Hee-moon. In the mixed 10-meter air pistol, Kim Mo-se and Kim Bo-mi will compete as a team alongside Jin Jong-oh and Choo Ga-eun.

The Olympic shooting events will start with the women’s 10-meter air rifle and men’s 10-meter air pistol on July 24 at the Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]