They have competed in several Paralympics but are still devoted to shooting. After years of painstaking trainings, on Monday, two veteran shooters saw their national flags hoisted on the Beijing Paralympic shooting range again.
Jonas Jacobsson is one of the big names in shooting. Previously holding seven world records, the 43-year-old Swedish rifleman expanded his extraordinary Paralympic gold collection on Monday to 14 without much suspense, bettering one of his own records and setting another.
Jonas Jacobsson of Sweden reacts in the men's R1-10m air rifle standing SH1 final of shooting event during Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 8, 2008. Jonas Jacobsson won the gold with a total score of 700.5. (Xinhua/Ren Yong) Always smiling in the wheelchair, the left-handed shooter scored 100 points in three of the six qualification series in men's 10m air rifle standing. He finished with a new world record of 596 points, which enabled him to top the finalists' list.
In the ten-shot final, the man, who was three shots ahead of the second-placer, appeared cautious and was always among the last ones to fire. But his scores, all above 10 with six at or above 10.5 points, received cheers and thunderous applauses, especially when he took 10.9 in the seventh shot.
His win seemed to be without doubts. But Jacobsson managed to bring an surprise to the ebullient spectators by improving his own record of the discipline by 3.2 points to a stunning 700.5.
Coincidentally, his scores in both qualification and final were the same as those achieved by Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won the 10m air rifle gold medal at the Beijing Olympics less than a month ago, at the very same venue -- the Beijing Shooting Range Hall.
After the competition, however, the champion appeared calm and cool-headed.
"The main thing was to continue the streak. I've now won eight Paralympics in a row. That was the main goal, and hopefully I can get another good result here," he said.
In the afternoon, Chinese Lin Haiyan grabbed the gold medal in women's 10m air pistol with a total score of 467.7 points, earning the host country its first Paralympic shooting gold.
Runner-up in the event at the Sydney Paralympics, Lin shared the same leading qualification score of 374 with Moon Aee-kyung from South Korea.
When the beaming lady born with infantile paralysis hobbled, rather than moving in a wheelchair, into the final hall, she was greeted with thundering applauses.
In the ten-shot final, Lin didn't start well, collecting just a 9.1, 1.1 points less than Moon's 10.2.
Appearing not so calm, the 43-year-old was the first to fire in the following three shots, while the scores, 9.5, 9.4 and 8.5 respectively, further expanded her gap from the South Korean.
But Fortune smiled at her when it came to the fifth round. Like always, she led the firing, and scored a decent 9.7.
Moon, however, aimed for quite a while and surprised the spectators with a mere 6.6.
The arch rival's lapse seemed to boost Lin's confidence, who later slowed down and collected a 10.2 and a 10.3 to pull away from other finalists.
Before the last shot, the lady on the shooting stand had already boasted an advantage of 3.7 points.
In the breathtaking last shot, the long-haired shooter didn't hesitate for long, before making an 8.3, nailing down the gold medal in advance.
The ecstatic home crowd, many having the pattern of China's national flag painted on their cheeks and waving the Beijing Paralympics flags, chanted her name loudly.
The 40-year-old Moon, who seemed to be under great pressure, appeared out of gear again and ended with a 7.5. But her advantage over the third-placer was so great that she still got the silver.
Talking about her not-so-good start in the final, Lin said, "My physical condition was not very good today. I was not myself during the final, even during the sighting time, though I was not nervous at all." The sighting time was a period before the real start of the final for competitors to get adapted.
"My performance was far below my normal level," she said.
But coach Wang Lijia was satisfied with Lin's performance.
"She is a bold shooter and did well today," she said.
Lin missed the Athens Paralympics due to poor physical condition at that time.
"In fact, we have met many difficulties during the training," Wang noted. "For the disabled, the process is tough but they need to make unremitting efforts. Luckily she managed to pull through."
Source:Xinhua
