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Li Wenyao, reporter of Chao News Client

On August 5, Beijing time, in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol final at the Paris Olympics, Chinese shooting veteran Li Yuehong, who was participating in the Olympics for the third time, finally realized his dream and won a gold medal for the Chinese team. Another Chinese player, Wang Xinjie, won the bronze medal.

Screenshot from the live broadcast of the Olympic Games

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that the Chinese shooting team has won the gold medal in the men's 25-meter rapid-fire pistol since participating in the Olympics in 1984.

So far, the Chinese shooting team has won 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Paris Olympics. This result exceeds the best record of 5 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and also breaks the best record in overseas competitions in the Tokyo Olympics created by the Chinese shooting team (4 gold, 1 silver and 6 bronze medals).

"Shooting to observe virtue"

Three-time veteran finally realizes his dream

Li Yuehong, 34, became famous early. As early as the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, he won the gold medal in the men's 25-meter rapid-fire pistol at the age of 20. At the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, he and his teammates set a new world record with 1,765 rings and won the men's 25-meter rapid-fire pistol team championship, winning the Asian Games gold medal again after 13 years.

At last year's World Championships in Baku, Li Yuehong secured the championship with a score of 39 out of 40, improving the world record held by a South Korean player for five years by one. At this point, Li Yuehong is only one step away from the shooting Grand Slam, the Olympic gold medal.

Screenshot from the Chinese Olympic Committee

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Li Yuehong competed in the Olympic Games for the first time. He advanced to the finals with fifth place in the qualifying round and eventually won a bronze medal.

If the Rio Olympics was a debut, then the Tokyo Olympics was a little disappointing. In the preliminaries, Li Yuehong ranked sixth with a small advantage and entered the finals. Later, when his teammate was eliminated first, Li Yuehong withstood the pressure and beat the Korean player to win another bronze medal. After the game, he said, "I didn't do some details well, and I could have gone one step further."

This step was finally achieved at the Paris Olympics.

In the finals, Li Yuehong ranked first after three rounds, and was briefly surpassed by the Korean player in the fourth and fifth rounds. But then he adjusted his state and rose to the first place in the fifth round with 5 hits and maintained this state until the end.

Screenshot from the Olympic official website

After winning the championship, Li Yuehong and his coach hugged each other for a long time. As the oldest member of the Chinese shooting team competing in this Paris Olympics, he was born in 1989 and filled a gap for the Chinese shooting team. He also ushered in his own perfection. "I think it's incredible. It seems that I won the gold medal, but it was actually the joint efforts of the whole team."

He said that there is an old Chinese saying, "shooting is a way to see one's virtue." In a post-match interview, Li Yuehong gave his own opinion in English, "I think what this saying means is that if you want to shoot better, you must first become a better person."

In fact, Li Yuehong's wife is also a shooting athlete, and today is her birthday. Before the competition, Li Yuehong told his wife that he would give her a gold medal as her birthday gift. "Although she is not an athlete now, she is still active in the grassroots of shooting. I hope to promote shooting to more people through my own efforts."

Fire 5 rounds in 4 seconds

Rapid-fire pistols have higher psychological requirements

"In fact, judging from Li Yuehong's achievements in domestic and international competitions in recent years, we feel that this Olympic gold medal is getting closer and closer to us. I am so happy that he finally got it today. It perfectly realizes that the Chinese rifle and pistol shooting team has an Olympic champion in every event." When Chao News reporter contacted Li Junfang, head coach of the Hangzhou Shooting Team, he could not hide his excitement.

Among the shooting events, rapid-fire pistol is a special event, and it is also an event that has higher requirements for "fast, accurate, and ruthless". The Olympic men's 25-meter rapid-fire pistol finals has a total of 8 groups, 5 shots per group, a total of 40 shots, and each group of 5 shots must be completed within 4 seconds. The last elimination system is adopted after the fourth group, and one player is eliminated in each round until the gold medal is decided.

It is worth mentioning that each shot is considered to have hit the target only if it reaches 9.7 rings or above, which is counted as 1 hit; if it is less than 9.7 rings, it is counted as 0 hit.

"In fact, there are many common requirements for athletes in various shooting events, but rapid pistol shooting may require athletes to have a strong psychological quality due to the competition system and other reasons." Li Junfang told Chao News reporters that because of the time limit, rapid pistol shooting requires athletes to "heat up quickly" like a microwave oven. "In dealing with problems, athletes cannot be given too much thinking time, so they must be more timely and effective. Li Yuehong's gold medal is a breakthrough in the history of rapid pistol shooting events and it is hard-won."

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