Ex-Special Forces Shooter Seo Hoon-tae Hits First Gold for South Korean Delegation

[Anchor]

At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, Seo Hoon-tae, a sharpshooter and former member of the Special Warfare Command, has captured the South Korean delegation's first gold medal.

Pyeon Gwanghyeon reports from the host location.

[Reporter]

Seo Hoon-tae, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall accident in 2008 while serving as a Special Forces non-commissioned officer, began his second act in life when he picked up a gun again in 2018.

Through grueling training pulling the trigger 200 times a day, he won a bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics two years ago, and today (the 19th) in Nagoya, he finally fired a golden bullet.

Advancing to the 10m air rifle standing final in second place overall, Seo gained momentum by shooting a perfect 10.9 with his very first shot.

Though he briefly surrendered the top spot to a Thai athlete, he immediately reclaimed the lead by hitting the center of the target with two consecutive shots, and never fell behind thereafter.

Ultimately finishing with 254.6 points and setting a new Asian record, Seo fended off the Thai competitor and fellow national teammate Park Seung-woo to become the South Korean delegation's first gold medalist of this tournament.

[Seo Hoon-tae / Para Shooting National Team: "(As a soldier) if I operated behind the scenes to protect the country, (as a national representative) I think I work hard with the mindset that my face now represents the Republic of Korea."]

Earlier, two-time Paris Paralympics champion Park Jin-ho adorned his first medal in silver.

Though he missed out on the gold by a 0.6-point margin, he shared his joy with Lee Jang-ho, a former Army shooting instructor who won the bronze medal.

With golden shots echoing from the shooting range right from the first day, the South Korean delegation's challenge—targeting more than 20 gold medals and a 6th-place overall finish—has truly caught fire.

Para-swimming star Cho Gi-seong delivered a stellar silver-winning performance in his opening event, the 50m freestyle.

Video by Lee Hong-myung
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.