ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol · Munich, GER

With 230.5 points, he set a new world record, winning the men’s 50m Pistol final in Munich ahead of Portugal Joao Costa and Serbia’s Dimitrije Grgic.

Republic of Korea’s four-time Olympic champion Jin Jongoh, 37, came back atop of the ISSF World Cup podium, winning today’s 50m Pistol Men final in Munich with a new world record of 230.5 points, shuttering the 230.1 p.ts record set by India’s Jitu Rai on the 1st of March at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.

The event’s rules changed at the beginning of 2017, so all the records were set back to zero, including the final world record scored by Jin back in 2013. Therefore, the winner of the first world cup stage of the season Jitu Rai set the new record. But it didn’t take long for world’s #1 and reigning Olympic champ Jin to regain his leadership, here at the second rifle and pistol world cup stage of the season.

Jin started-off the final with a 48.0-point series placing him in third place, and then climbed up the scoreboard to the lead half-way through the match, keeping the head of the pack until his last two shots, a 10.2 and a 10.4.

Portugal’s 53-year old Joao Costa, a 2015 European Champion, challenged him right to the end of the match, finishing in second place with 228.3 points, after closing his final with an 8.9 and a 9.6-point shots.

Following them, Serbia’s Dimitrije Grgic, 32, took Bronze with 209.0 points, claiming his first ISSF world cup medal in career. The Serbian athlete, ranked 24th in the world, had led the final round throughout the first 14 shots, when he scored three nines and an eight in a row, sliding down in the placements.

“I won the match and I set a new world record, but I am bit sad. Because maybe the 50m Pistol event won’t be part of the Olympic program anymore,” said gold medalist Jin, referring to the proposed changes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic program.

Jin is the most successful 50m Pistol shooter of all times, with three Olympic gold and one Olympic silver medals to his name in this event, along with an impressive number of 13 world cup medals, two world cup titles and one world championship title.

“I believe that the audience enjoyed today’s final, people were cheering and having fun. I hope that whoever is in charge to decide will change their minds, and reconsider the situation.”

A final decision on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic program is due to be taken by the International Olympic Committee later this year.