Shooting Gold with a "Cool" Pistol: Chu Ga-eun Wins Shooting Team's First Gold

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Chu Ga-eun has won the women's 10-meter air pistol event, setting a new Asian record. This marks the first gold medal for the shooting delegation at this competition.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the details from the site.

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Chu Ga-eun, who advanced to the final in first place after setting a new Asian Games record in the preliminaries, pulled the trigger with unwavering confidence in the eight-person final.

Taking the lead from her first 10 shots, she showcased overwhelming skills in the survival-style elimination format where one shooter is knocked out every two shots.

Even while taking longer than usual to aim, she pierced the exact center of the target.

[I was holding my breath. And she shoots a 10.8 here. Truly remarkable.]

Despite the loud cheers from the stands, she precisely aimed her pistol engraved with the word "Cool" and consecutively hit targets in the 10-point range.

After securing at least a silver medal when her formidable rival, China's Jiang Lanxin, was eliminated, Chu wore a subtle smile. When her final competitor, Shen Yaoyao, scored an 8.8 on her 23rd shot, Chu immediately fired a 10.6 to effectively seal the victory.

With her final shot, she finished with 246.3 points, setting a new Asian record and confirming the gold medal.

Like the acne patch on her forehead, Chu shone like a golden star, flashing a bright smile as she claimed the first Asian Games gold medal of her life.

The national anthem rang out at the shooting range for the first time.

[Chu Ga-eun / National Shooting Team: I just thought to myself, 'Let's go out and have fun.' I definitely seem to perform better in finals than in preliminaries.]

Reaching the golden milestone nine years after donning the national flag as a 16-year-old, Chu also put on a witty celebration after combining with Oh Ye-jin and Kim Bo-mi for a team silver medal.

Head Coach Jang Gap-seok of the national shooting team, who had been burdened by the lack of prior gold medals, shed tears.

[Jang Gap-seok / National Shooting Team Head Coach: We will do our absolute best in the remaining events to repay everyone for your support. Thank you.]

Ringing out its first golden shot five days into the opening, the national shooting team will continue its hunt for medals through October 1.

(Video by Park Jin-ho | Video Editing by Park Jung-sam | Graphics by Yang Gi-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.