Roommates but not rivals: Two South Korean shooters win Olympic gold and silver

CHATEAUROUX, France (AP) — They’re roommates and Olympic record-breakers but not rivals. Even in a shootout for the gold medal.

Two South Korean shooters with a special bond fought for gold without bitterness Sunday at Paris Olympics ' shooting range. Oh Ye Jin took the gold and Kim Yeji the silver in women’s 10-meter air pistol — and both beat the previous record — but said it didn’t much matter who won.

“She is like my youngest sibling, and I always want to care for her and always be there for her. So, when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy,” said silver medalist Kim, who at 31 is 12 years older than her teammate.

“I do not view her as my rival. This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver. When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans. I thought it did not matter who won the gold.”

Oh and Kim were the last two shooters left in a format that eliminates competitors one by one. “We could really help each other, so there was less pressure for us,” Oh said.

Oh took the gold with a score of 243.2 points and finished strongly to hold off Kim on 241.3. Eight of Oh’s last nine shots scored at least 10 points of a possible 10.9. They’ll compete again Monday in qualification for the mixed team air pistol event.

The bronze went to Manu Bhaker of India, who was eliminated on 221.7, just .1 off Kim’s score at the time, before the gold-medal shootout between the South Korean teammates. It was India’s first medal of any kind at the 2024 Paris Olympics and its first ever in women’s shooting.

The previous Olympic record for a women’s 10-meter air pistol final stood at 240.3, set by Russian shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina in Tokyo three years ago. Batsarashkina is not among the small number of Russians competing in Paris as Individual Neutral Athletes.

Oh’s gold medal was the first in shooting at the 2024 Olympics to be won by a country other than China, which won the first gold of the Games on Saturday and added a second on Sunday in men’s 10-meter air pistol.

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Xie Yu scored 240.9 for the gold medal ahead of two Italian shooters. Federico Nilo Maldini had the silver on 240 and Paolo Monna led the competition at midway but was eliminated in bronze-medal position on 218.6 after some costly errors.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games