08/08/12 OLYMPICS | SHOOTING - Glenn Eller wins gold in double trap, South Korean edges North Korean in pistol shooting

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OLYMPICS | SHOOTING

Glenn Eller wins gold in double trap, South Korean edges North Korean in pistol shooting

The Associated Press

 

Published: August 12, 2008

 

Glenn Eller of the United States won the gold medal in double trap shooting Tuesday, building a solid lead during qualifying and then hitting 45 of 50 targets in the final round.

Eller set an Olympic record with a total score of 190 - and also with a qualifying score of 145. Francesco D'Aniello of Italy won the silver, and Hu Binyuan of China took the bronze.

South Korea's Jin Jong Oh won the gold medal in men's 50-meter pistol at the Beijing Olympics Tuesday, holding on despite a poor final shot to edge North Korea's Kim Jong Su.

China's Tan Zongliang took the bronze.

Eller led by four shots entering the final, meaning a 47 would have clinched the gold even if every other competitor shot perfectly. Eller missed the first two targets of the final, but recovered quickly. He clinched the gold by hitting both targets in the next-to-last pair, then turned and immediately pumped his fist.

 

Eller, a Texas native, is a three-time Olympian. He finished 15th in 2000 and 17th in 2004. At 26, he was the youngest of the six finalists this year.

The final round included past Olympic champions Russell Mark of Australia and Richard Faulds of Britain. Jeff Holguin of the United States finished fourth.

Afterward, Holguin immediately went over to congratulate the victor. Eller, a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won the first American gold in Beijing in shooting, a Chinese strength.

D'Aniello and Binyuan shot the best final rounds, hitting 46 targets each. D'Aniello and Binyuan finished with total scores of 187 and 184.

Jin scored only 8.2 of a possible 10.9 points on his final attempt, meaning Kim and Tan each could have won. Tan shot only a 9.2, and Kim shot a 10.5, falling just 0.2 points short of Jin's total of 660.4.

The two Koreans shared the podium for the second time at these Olympics. Jin took the silver and Kim the bronze in the 10-meter air pistol Saturday.

"We are very close and I am very happy to have gold. I'm very happy that we got medals together today," Jin said. "Kim is a very good athlete. I think I'm lucky I have got the gold today."

South and North Korea did not march together in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, after having done so in the same uniform under the blue and white "unification flag" at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Games.

Jin and Kim were asked about the issue.

"It's not something that will happen just because us athletes want it to happen," Jin said.

Kim added: "I don't believe us athletes should discuss this and it's something that should be discussed by the governments."

Tan led Tuesday after qualifying, but he hurt his chances with a 7.9 and an 8.1 early in the final round.