ISSF World Championships 2023 Baku: Li Yuehong wins men's 25m rapid fire pistol with world record, as Paris 2024 shooting berths won
China's Li gave himself an early 34th birthday present with gold and a world record in the event, while world No.1 Clement Bessaguet took silver and German youngster Florian Peter picked up the bronze in the Olympic qualifying event, with Olympic quotas going to China, Japan, Ukraine and Estonia.
Shooting
One shot is all that Li Yuehong missed on his way to a world title in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol at the 2023 ISSF World Championship in Baku on Tuesday (22 August), live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com.
The world No.2 and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist was uncatchable in a final that also featured world No.1 Clement Bessaguet of France and top qualifier Wang Xinjie.
Beating teammate Wang was especially important for Li as the two pistol shooters were battling not only for medal standings, but also the right to earn the Republic of China a quota at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In the end, it was was Li securing the quota for his federation, while Wang finished fifth. France's Bessaguet took silver, with Florian Peter of Germany in bronze.
Japan's Yoshioka Dai, Ukraine's Denys Kushnirov, and Estonia's Peeter Olesk also earned quotas for their National Olympic Committees (NOCs).
Li took the lead early as the only athlete to shoot cleanly in the first series, but with four athletes only one shot behind. He was spotless again in the second series, widening the gap with his rivals. Japan's Yoshioka was two shots behind in second, with Bessaguet and Wang tied for third position.
Bessaguet made up for his two misses in the second series with four hits in the third, which drew him level with Yoshioka. Li, however, remained far ahead of the field with another clean round.
A fourth-straight clean series earned Li applause from the crowds, as well as nod and rare smile from his coach. Hoping to get some applause as well, Bessaguet followed up Li's perfect round with a clean round of his own, hitting all five targets for the first time in the final in Baku.
On the brink of becoming the first shooter to be eliminated, Florian also shot a perfect fourth series to force Wang and Kushnirov into a three-way shoot-off. Ukraine's Youth Olympic champion faltered and was the first to exit. Wang did not survive for long, however, and was the next to get eliminated.
It was in that series that his teammate Li also showed signs of weakness. Li made his first and only error of the final, missing the 24th shot. The miss did not shake him up, however, as he returned to shooting cleanly for the remainder of the competition and ultimately set a world record, hitting 39 targets out of 40.
"It's unbelievable. I never thought about that," Li said after the competition about becoming the world champion.
"I'm very happy. I'd like to go to Paris for the Olympic Games. I want to go, so I work hard every day," he added about obtaining an Olympic quota for China.
Bessaguet took silver with 30 hits and Peter the bronze with 24.
Results from men's 25m pistol at the 2023 ISSF World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan:
- Li Yuehong (CHN) - 39 - Also earns Paris 2024 berth for the People's Republic of China.
- Clement Bessaguet (FRA) - 30
- Florian Peter (GER) - 24 (after 35 shots)
- Yoshioka Dai (JPN) - 19 (after 30) - Also earns Paris 2024 berth for Japan.
- Wang Xinjie (CHN) - 14 (after 25)
- Denys Kushnirov (UKR) - 13 (after 20) - Also earns Paris 2024 berth for Ukraine.
- Peeter Olesk (EST) - Also earns Paris 2024 berth for Estonia based on his result in the qualification stage.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOCs selecting them to represent their delegation.