Lee Yun-ri and Kim Im-yeon of the Republic of Korea staged a one-two finish for their country in the Women's 50m Sport Rifle 3x20-SH1 at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Tuesday, September 9.
Lee set a world and Paralympic record of 579 points in the qualification round. Entering into the final with a comfortable margin of 4.0 points ahead of the rest of the pack, Lee performed solidly and never gave away the top position in the 10 shots round.
She shot for her first Paralympic gold in the final attempt and scored high (10.1). Her final tally was 676.9, which was a world and Paralympic final record in the event.
Kim, who was the champion in this event at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, secured silver at 671.0 points. The veteran shooter was seeded third to the final but showed her class in the final. She scored the highest score (100.0) and was the only shooter marking over 100 points in the session.
Zhang Cuiping of China earned bronze with a total score of 668.6 points. The 26-year-old held second place for much of the final and was on track to clinch the silver medal, but she couldn't score high enough in the last three attempts and dropped to third.
Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia, winner of the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing-SH1 at Beijing 2008, pursued the top three shooters fiercely in this final but missed a medal by a tiny score of 0.8 points. She completed the session at 667.8.
Lee Ji-Seok of the ROK secured gold in the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone-SH2 with a total score of 705.3 points.
Lee and You Ho-gyoung of the ROK and Viktoria Wedin of Sweden have equaled the world and Paralympic record (the maximum possible score 600/600) in the qualification round. The eight finalists are within one point of each other and have been engaged in fierce battle for the medals throughout the session.
Lee stood at the top of the ladder after his second attempt, in which he scored a massive 10.8. He performed consistently and kept the position in the rest of shots.
Raphael Voltz of France came second with a total score of 705.1 points. He was qualified seventh to the final and was provisional sixth after the fifth shot in the session, but the French athlete shot superbly in the last half scoring two perfect scores of 10.9 points.
The bronze medal was decided by a shoot-off between Wedin and You who finished the 10 shots round with the same total score (704.1). Wedin won the shoot-off by scoring 10.7 points, while You narrowly missed the medal by scoring 10.6.
Michael Johnson of New Zealand, who was tied eighth with a score of 599 points in the qualification round, missed the final due to the IPSF regulation for the ranking system. He later protested the decision, but it was denied before the final commenced.
(BOCOG September 9, 2008)