Rifle shooters take aim at first Olympic gold in two decades

LONDON -- Make no mistake: South Korea's biggest shooting star is Jin Jong-oh, with one Olympic gold and two silver medals, in addition to a slew of other international titles in pistol events.

Jin is expected to pick up more medals at the London Olympics.

Meanwhile, his teammates in rifle events said they're also due for an Olympic gold.

South Korea has sent three rifle marksmen to London. Han Jin-seop will compete in three rifle events, while Kim Jong-hyun is entered in two and Kim Hak-man will be in 50-meter prone event.

The three have been competing alongside each other for nearly two years. They claimed the 50ｍ prone team silver medal at the 2010 world championships and swept up individual and team 50ｍ prone gold medals at the Asian Games later that year.

South Korea won two rifle gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and claimed a silver at the Sydney Games eight years later. It has been shut out of rifle medals since.

"It's really about time," said the smiling Kim Hak-man, an Army master sergeant in his first Olympics.

Han, considered the strongest shooter of the trio, is competing in his second Olympics. And he's got painful memories he'd like to erase this time around.

As a 26-year-old in Beijing, Han was expected to end the rifle drought. But he couldn't even reach the finals in 50ｍ three positions and 10ｍ air pistol, finishing 15th and 26th respectively.

Now 30, Han said he is anxious to get going in London.

"Now that I am here, I feel butterflies in my stomach," he said. "I don't want to repeat disappointments from four years ago.

The three of us won silver together at the world championships two years ago and I hope we can all get our desired results at the Olympics."

The shooters will have to go out there and hit targets, but they have already earned the faith of their coaches. Byun Kyung-soo, the head coach of the entire shooting delegation, said the three are already world-class. Yoon Duk-ha, who coaches the rifle shooters, said the trio will put rifle shooting back into the spotlight.

"Han is a bit inconsistent, and if he can overcome that, I think he's the closest to a gold medal," Yoon said. "Kim Jong-hyun doesn't have the score but he's the steadier type. He has a lot of promise, too."

The men's rifle shooting event starts with 10ｍ air rifle next Monday. (Yonhap News)