sports

Kwon Kwang Il, a shooter of the Amnokgang Defence Sports Club, is a man of extraordinary enthusiasm. 

“His training ground is everywhere, and everything that he sees can be his training target,” said his coach Kim Chun Sam. 

According to him, Kwon is especially well prepared physically. 

As his physical constitution was suitable for shooting, he had already been cutting a conspicuous figure at youth-level games when Kim set eyes on him. 

However, Kwon also had some defects at that time, said Kim. 

He was too complacent about his successes in the youth level. 

“But it was only before he got to know himself,” said the coach. 

He failed to reach the top three at running target shooting events held in 2011, which was his senior-level debut. 

As Kwon was writhing with the shameful result, the coach came to point out his defects which could not be discovered by himself and suggest ways to correct them showing him footages of the competitions.

After that, his training intensity was greatly increased. 

Though it was much harder to correct the faulty habits than to start afresh, he had to conquer himself. 

He began to win bronze medals and then silvers and golds, but he was never satisfied. 

With such painstaking efforts, he set a new Asian record in a 50-metre running target standard speed shooting in 2017 and established a new national record and broke the Asian record at an event in June 2021 and beat the world record at the national championships held in September that year. 

He also bettered his world record in the men’s 10-metre running target mixed shooting event at the national championships last year and was selected as one of the top ten players of the DPRK in 2022.