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South Korea's Oh Ye Jin sets Olympic shooting record for gold

Two South Korean shooters broke an Olympic record to finish with gold and silver medals in the women's 10-meter air pistol event Sunday.

Oh Ye Jin took the gold with a score of 243.2 points and finished strongly to hold off teammate and roommate Kim Yeji with 241.3. Eight of Oh's last nine shots scored at least 10 points of a possible 10.9.

"I still cannot believe I'm wearing a gold medal on my neck right now, but maybe if time goes by, I will believe I have a gold medal," said Oh, who burst into tears after winning the gold. "This medal is very heavy, by the way."

Kim, who at 31 is 12 years older than Oh, said it didn't matter who won gold.

"She is like my youngest sibling, and I always want to care for her and always be there for her," Kim said. "So when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy. I do not view her as my rival. This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver. When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans."

The bronze went to Manu Bhaker of India, who was eliminated with 221.7 points before the gold medal shootout between the two South Korean teammates. It was India's first medal of any kind at the 2024 Paris Olympics and its first ever in women's shooting.

"I have three more events to go, and I hope India finishes strong in this Olympics and win as many medals as possible not just in shooting but also in other sports," Bhaker told reporters.

The previous Olympic record for a women's 10-meter air pistol final stood at 240.3, set by Russian shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina in Tokyo three years ago. Batsarashkina is not among the small number of Russians competing in Paris as neutral athletes.

Oh's gold medal was the first in shooting at the 2024 Olympics to be won by a country other than China, which won the first gold of the Games on Saturday and added a second Sunday in men's 10-meter air pistol.

Xie Yu scored 240.9 for the gold medal ahead of two Italian shooters. Federico Nilo Maldini had the silver with 240 points, while Paolo Monna led the competition midway but was eliminated in bronze medal position with 218.6 after some costly errors.

"If I hadn't won, this may have been my biggest regret," Xie told reporters. "It is very difficult to be selected for China for the Olympics, so to be able to stand here today, on this higher stage, is very significant for me."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.