Changwon 2026 Day 3: Jo Jeongdu strikes Korea’s first gold with world record

Two years after winning Korea’s first shooting Para sport gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Jo Jeongdu did it again – this time at the WSPS World Championships, claiming gold with a world record and an LA28 quota on home soil.

It was the first gold for the host nation in individual events at Changwon 2026. Overall, five quota places were claimed on the third day of the competition at Korea's third WSPS World Championships.

Impressive Jeongdu

Jeongdu, the Al Ain 2022 champion, shot an impressive 244.4, including several 10.8s, to set a new world record in the P1 - 10m air pistol men SH1. He improved the previous mark by 2.6 points, held by Chinese pistol legend Yang Chao (241.8) and also set in Changwon in May 2023.

China's Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Huang Xing settled for silver with 237.0 points, ahead of Alexandr Paskhalidi (215.3), who won the first medal for Kazakhstan in Changwon.

"It's an honour to be world champion at home," said the 39-year-old Jeongdu, who was buoyed by loud cheers from the home crowd.

"I wanted to yet again prove my skills. There was a lot of home cheers, but I just tried to focus on my game to have the control on the game."

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Iranian glory

Before the Changwon International Shooting Range erupted in home celebrations, Iran’s female athletes produced an incredible performance to win the nation’s first gold at the Changwon 2026 Worlds.

Faezeh Ahmadi, the reigning Asian Para Games champion, displayed remarkable consistency to claim her first Worlds title and a LA28 quota place for her country, winning the P2 - 10m air pistol women SH1 with 238.3.

Emotions flowed after Ahmadi fired her final shot and secured victory ahead of compatriot Nasrin Shahi Samakhoun, a former champion at the Changwon World Cups, who finished with 233.7 points.

India's 20-year-old Bhakti Sharma denied Iran a clean sweep by claiming bronze after an impressive performance to finish on 213.1. Three-time Paralympic champion Sareh Javanmardi finished fourth on 194.1.

Earlier, the Iranian trio - Ahmadi, Samakhoun and Javanmardi - also combined for a world record effort of 1707-44x in the qualification to take the team gold. 

🔴 LIVE — R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1, last final of day three.

Veronika Vadovicova 🇸🇰 is Paralympic champion here and holds the World Record.

Watch live 👇https://t.co/1jfFdS5sWL #ShootingParaSport #Changwon2026 pic.twitter.com/rmYNhrlTYb

— Shooting Para Sport (@ShootingPara) September 12, 2026

Vadovicova strikes again

In the only rifle event of the day, Slovakian great Veronika Vadovicova clinched her second gold in as many days, having combined with R1 champion Radoslav Malenovsky to win the R10 final on Friday.

Qualifying in second place, the reigning Paralympic champion produced an impressive 10.5 and 10.8 in the final series to total 254.2 to take the gold and a quota place for Slovakia. Vadovicova finished 1.0 point ahead of Tokyo 2002 silver medallist Jinho Park (253.2).

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist from Ukraine, Iryna Saltykova, settled for bronze with 231.8 points. 

After three days of competition, Korea led the medals table with 11 medals including one individual and four team golds, followed by China, Slovakia, Iran and India in the top five.

You can relive the action from Changwon by watching the livestream, while results are available here.

Competition at Changwon 2026 continues with eight events, including Para trap and VI, on Sunday.