Athens 2004 gold medalist Jonas Jacobsson of Sweden surpassed the eight-year-old world record by a huge margin this morning in the Men's 10m Air Rifle Standing Position in his disability class. Jacobsson's gold medal takes his Paralympic medal tally to 14 gold, one silver and eight bronze medals.
His qualification score of 596 was three points better than the old mark set by Jung Jin-owan of the Republic of Korea at Sydney 2000. After ten stunning final shots, Jacobsson beat the world record for the final (697.1) by 3.4 points, which was also set by Jung in Sydney.
Jacobsson earned more than ten points, including a full score of 10.9, which rarely happens in either the Paralympics or the Olympics.
"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," commented the Swedish shooter who has won gold in this event since his first Paralympics in 1980.
In Athens 2004, he snatched four gold medals, breaking eight world and Paralympic records and equaling four.
The silver medal went to Norbert Gau of Germany, who was 6.8 points behind Jacobsson. "A dream has come true. Since I watched the Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich as a child, I wanted to win a medal myself," said Gau.
Gau started his shooting career when his friends gave him an old air rifle as a present. This is his second time to participate in the Paralympic Games.
Franc Pinter of Slovakia won the bronze medal with 693.2 points. The bronze medal was his fourth Paralympic medal after winning three consecutive silver medals at Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. He finished the qualification round in sixth place with 590 points, but managed to snare the bronze after many of his shots in the final scored more than 10 points.
"I worked very hard in the couple of months before the Paralympics, and I tried to maintain my best shape. During the competition I just tried to put myself together mentally. So I am satisfied," said Pinter after winning the bronze medal.
Jacobsson will compete in another three events - the Men's 50m Free Rifle 3x40 Standing SH1, the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 and the Mixed 50m Free Rifle Prone SH1.
"Every competition is a new one. You have to focus. Everybody starts at zero, and you have to shoot your own shots," Jacobsson said.
(BOCOG September 8, 2008)