Park led from the front in the R3 mixed 10 metre air rifle prone SH1 competition in a field packed full of quality including multi-Paralympic champions Jonas Jacobsson of Sweden, Briton Matt Skelhon and Slovakian Veronika Vadovicova.

Both Jacobsson and Vadovicova have already secured World Championship gold in Suhl, but they did not even mange a podium today as it was Skelhon who pushed Park all the way.

The Briton drew level with Park with two shots to go, but a score of 10.0 compared to Park's 10.7 put the South Korean in pole position going into the final round.

An effort of 10.4 to register an overall score of 211.9 was enough to secure the win for Park, with Skelhon settling for silver and bronze going to Abdulla Sultan Alaryani of the United Arab Emirates.

"At the beginning, I felt very anxious, but as time went by, when my shots were good I felt more comfortable, which allowed me to win the gold medal," said 37-year-old Park.

"Before starting the final, the head coach told me to remember what I did in practice and do the basics right."

South Korea also claimed a world title for their combined qualification score of 1892.7.

There was more success later in the day as Jeon battled it out with his compatriot Juyoung Kang for gold in the R4 mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 event.

Youngjun Jeon followed up a disappointing sixth at London 2012 by claiming his first World Championship title in Suhl ©Getty Images



Jeon trailed his compatriot Kang, who is the reigning Paralympic champion, going into the final three rounds, but he reeled off three straight scores of 10.7 which was enough to secure a first world title and set a new finals world record of 210.7.

"It is the first time I have won a gold medal, so this is the best day," said Jeon, who finished sixth at London 2012.

"With the last shot, I felt very anxious and it was difficult for me as I was against somebody else from the Korean team.

"It was very good competition for me."

Frenchman Tanguy De La Forest took the bronze, while the efforts of Jeon and Kang helped South Korea to another qualification gold and a new world record of 1894.7.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
July 2014: South Korean claims victory with final shot on dramatic day at IPC Shooting World Championships
July 2014: Jacobsson claims 18th world title at IPC Shooting World Championships
July 2014: IPC Shooting World Championships open in Suhl with gun salute
June 2014: New-look website launched ahead of record breaking IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl
June 2014: Visually impaired shooters to take part in demonstration event at IPC Shooting World Championships