Pistol shooter Jo Jeong-du delivers S. Korea’s 1st gold at Paris Paralympics

Pistol shooter Jo Jeong-du was on target for South Korea’s first gold medal of the Paris Paralympics on Friday, winning the men’s 10-meter air pistol title.

Jo scored 237.4 points for the gold at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris, hours after Lee Yun-ri won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle event for South Korea’s first medal of the competition.

Manish Narwal of India finished in second place with 234.9 points, followed by Yang Chao of China with 214.3 points.

The eight finalists each took 10 shots first — two series of five shots — before eliminations of the lowest-scoring athlete began after the 12th shot, with the perfect score being 10.9.

Jo had 98.9 points after the initial 10 shots, trailing Yang in second place by 1.7 points.

Jo struggled early in the second phase, scoring below 10.0 on four of his next six shots after the opening stage. Through 16 shots, Jo was in third place, 0.9 point back of Narwal.

But Jo then caught fire with four consecutive scores of at least 10.3. He grabbed the lead at 198.9 points after 20 shots.

After shooting a 9.7 and a 9.3 with his next two, Jo finished off a comfortable win with scores of 10.8 and 8.7.

Jo’s event had SH1 classification, designated for athletes with upper and/or lower limb impairment.

Jo, 37, was diagnosed with cerebrospinal meningitis in 2007 while serving in the military. He became a paraplegic as a result and, in denial of his disability, Jo locked himself in his room and spent years playing shooter video games.

On recommendation of the gym director at the veterans hospital, Jo picked up real shooting. Within years, Jo developed into one of South Korea’s best para shooters.

Jo’s turnaround culminated with the Paralympic gold, which he said he will dedicate to his and his wife’s soon-to-be-born first child.

As for his message to people with disabilities who are struggling to deal with their new reality, Jo said, “You can’t do anything about disability. You have to work up the courage and get out into the world. Then you will see there is a way.”