CHATEAUROUX (France), July 28 (Yonhap) -- Only six years after picking up pistol shooting, Oh Ye-jin, still just 19 years old, can call herself an Olympic champion.
Oh's gold medal Sunday in the women's 10-metre air pistol at the Paris Olympics is as unlikely as any Olympic medal for South Korea in recent memory, according to Yonhap news agency. The teenager came in ranked No. 35 in the world in the 10m air pistol, with a decidedly unimpressive track record.
On this day at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris, Oh showcased the kind of mettle often reserved for seasoned Olympians, as she held off her teammate Kim Ye-ji by 1.9 points for the gold and the new Olympic record of 243.2 points.
Not many people would have given Oh much of a chance to even reach the final, let alone win a medal, but Oh said afterward she never had a doubt.
Asked if she thought she could perform this well, Oh said, without missing a beat: "Absolutely. I knew I was going to do well."
"I know I am still very young, but I was able to really show what I am capable of," Oh added.
In the final, the eight shooters each started with 10 shots, fired across two series of five shots with the perfect scoring being 10.9. After that, single shots were fired, and the worst remaining shooter after every two shots was eliminated.
Oh and Kim went back and forth in the elimination stage, with Manu Bhaker from India, the eventual bronze medalist, trying to spoil the Korean party.
After letting Kim move to the top early, Oh battled back in the latter portion of the final, hitting a couple of 10.6s, according to Yonhap.
After Kim fended off Bhaker to set up an all-Korean showdown for the gold, Oh hit another 10.6 with her final shot to lock down the gold.
"Before the final shot, I was so nervous that my pistol kept shaking," Oh said. "But I was able to hold it steady at the very moment when I pulled the trigger. As soon as I fired, I knew I had done it."
Oh is not above relying on superstitions. She likes to eat lemon-flavoured jelly five minutes before entering the range for competitions and stuck to her routine Sunday.
"I did well the first time I had jelly, so I've been doing that ever since," Oh said with a smile.
Oh said she got into pistol shooting while still in middle school in 2018. When some friends went for a tryout for a shooting team, Oh just tagged along and eventually found out she could be fairly good at the sport.
Oh started winning some international titles in 2023, including a World Cup gold in Jakarta. This year, though, she hadn't made much noise prior to the Olympics, and Oh had not been on many "medal contenders" lists.
In fact, Oh wasn't even considered the best teenager on the national team. That distinction belonged to rifle shooter Ban Hyo-jin, who would make her Olympic debut at age 16, only three years after picking up the sport.
Ban appeared to live up to the hype by setting an Olympic record in the qualification for the women's 10m air rifle earlier Sunday.
But then Oh outshined her just hours later with the surprise gold medal, South Korea's first in shooting since 2016.
Oh has said she would have found work in music if she hadn't picked up her pistol. But with the gold medal around her neck Sunday, she probably thought she had chosen the right career.
And Oh thinks she is in for the long haul.
"Obviously, I'd love to do well at the Olympics," Oh has said. "But my biggest goal is to become a consistent force in the sport long after the Olympics, someone who always keeps her head high."
-- BERNAMA-YONHAP
