Shooting Men’s 10m Air Pistol Gold Medal… Korea’s First Gold Medal in the Games
After getting spinal cord injury, I was confined to my home for 7-8 years.
“If you have the courage to go out and meet many people, the path will be shown to you.”
Jo Jeong-du (37, BDH Paras) kept his promise to his wife that he would “definitely bring her a gold medal.”
Jo Jeong-du was busy training for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games and couldn’t stay home often. He always felt sorry for his wife, Noh Hyun-joo, whom he tied the knot with in February of last year. Furthermore, Noh is due to give birth on September 12.
Cho Jeong-du said, “I felt really sorry for my wife. Before the Paralympics, I went out so often that my wife said, ‘Do I have to go?’ I trained even harder and vowed to myself, ‘I will definitely win a gold medal.’”
The dream came true.
On the 30th (Korean time), at the Paris Paralympic Games held at the Chateauroux Shooting Center in France, Jo Jeong-du shot 237.4 points in the men’s 10m air pistol (sport class SH1) finals, winning the gold medal, beating Manish Narwal (India, 234.9 points).
This is the first gold medal for the Korean team at this competition.
Jo Jeong-du, who met with reporters in the joint press area after the game, confessed, “Actually, I was a little anxious because I didn’t perform as well as I did during practice. I even had random thoughts.”
He continued, “I suddenly thought, ‘The opponent will be pushed back anyway, so I’ll just shoot comfortably,’” and added, “That must have been the driving force behind my winning the gold medal.”
The moment he won the gold medal, he thought of his wife and his soon-to-be-born child. Cho Jeong-du said, “I want to quickly give the gold medal to my wife and child.”
When asked, “Please say something to your soon-to-be-born child,” he replied, “I haven’t decided on a name for the child yet, but the prenatal name is ‘Tiyong.’ This year is the Year of the Dragon. Rather than telling the child to ‘grow up healthy,’ I want to tell him to ‘not go astray.’” He then laughed heartily and said to his wife, Ms. Noh, “Honey, your brother won a gold medal.”
In 2007, Jo Jeong-du suffered from spinal cord injury as a result of poor treatment for cerebrospinal meningitis while serving in the military. He also spent a long time wandering around due to his acquired disability.
“I was afraid to go outside. I was locked up at home for seven or eight years, wondering, ‘What can I do?’ But I got into shooting and ended up here,” he said.
He, who gave hope to many people by winning the gold medal, said, “It’s not something that can be solved just by talking about it with people around you,” and encouraged them by saying, “If you have the courage to go out and meet many people, you will see the way.”
Now that he has the gold medal around his neck, he is ready to take a breather. On this day, Jo Jeong-du skipped even his meal before the game and took up the gun. He said, “If I eat and then play, the gun won’t hold up well and will shake during the digestion process,” and laughed, saying, “I want to go to a restaurant and boil some ramen. I’m hungry because I didn’t eat.”
[파리=공동취재단]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-08-31 13:14:40