South Korea has picked up its third gold medal of the Paris Paralympics while collecting four other medals in and around the French capital.

Jeong Ho-won grabbed the gold medal in the men’s individual boccia (BC3) event by beating Daniel Michel of Australia 5-2 at South Paris Arena 1 on Monday.

South Korea has now won at least one boccia gold medal at 10 consecutive Paralympics, dating back to the 1988 event in Seoul.

South Korea is the most successful boccia nation in Paralympic history. The sport joined the competition in 1984, and South Korea has won 11 gold medals.

Jeong has been responsible for four of those gold medals — one each in 2008, 2016, 2021 and now 2024.

Before Jeong, South Korea had won two silver medals and one bronze medal in boccia in Paris, including silver by Jung Sung-joon in the men’s individual (BC1) event earlier Monday.

Boccia is a precision ball game for athletes with cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions. The goal is to throw, kick or use a ramp to put a ball as
close to the white “jack” ball as possible.

The BC3 classification is for those with severe locomotor dysfunction in all four extremities. They may use a pointer, a ramp and support from an assistant. The BC1 classification is for players who can throw the ball with their hand or foot.

Also on Monday, South Korea earned its fifth medal from shooting, thanks to Kim Jung-nam’s bronze in the mixed 25-meter pistol (SH1) event at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris.

In his Paralympic debut, Kim scored 24 hits for third place, six back of the gold medalist, Yang Chao of China. Gong Yanxiao of the United States won silver with 28 hits.

In the pistol event, a score of at least 10.2 points counted as a hit. The finalists first took three series of five shots each. Eliminations of the lowest-ranked shooter began with the end of the fourth series.

The SH1 classification is for athletes with upper and/or lower limb impairment.

Source: Yonhap News Agency