By Sportswriter Wu Shuguang
TIANJIN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- After his third National Games victory in seven competitions on Wednesday, veteran shooter Tan Zongliang feels a hunger growing inside him to compete for the ultimate medal at Tokyo 2020.
It was a magic week. The Five-time Olympian from Shandong, who will be 46 years old in two months, only placed fifth in the men's 50m pistol on Monday.
"I'm lucky to make fifth place as I'm nearly 46 years old. Shooting, however, is and will be my life pursuit," said Tan, the runner-up in the men's slow fire pistol at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It was his seventh edition of the quadrennial multi-sport event since 1993, dubbed China's mini-Olympics, after reaping two gold medals each from the 7th and 10th Games.
Still No.5 in the qualifiers, Tan fired a quite low 8.7-point shot at the beginning, but managed to rule the final of the men's 10m air pistol after ten shots with 242.3 points on Wednesday, with a score 2.2 points over that of the silver medalist.
Tortured by neck pain for a long time, Tan received treatment from mid June to late July, which meant he had little training for the event. He attributes his success to having peace of mind.
"It was a perfect match! The gold was unexpected but well-deserved, because I did focus on every shot without any thoughts of the result," said the veteran while filled with excitement. "It's an honor to make the final for a shooter, especially for an older shooter."
Wang Yifu, former coach of Chinese national shooting squad, who attended six National Games as an athlete, once said that Tan's weakness was his hyper-focus on medals despite his perfect technique.
Tan's score also surpassed the world record of 241.6 points, set by Christian Reitz of Germany on March 10, 2017 at the European Shooting Championship in Maribor, Slovenia.
"I have never dared to think about another gold except in my dreams," said Tan with a huge smile, adding that he was proud of himself for putting forth more effort.
"I am lucky, but I must say that the gold medal mainly came as a result of my inner strength," he added.
Tan has reaped three golds from the Chinese National Games since 1993. Tan ranked second at the 12th Games in the 10m air pistol event.
It is an interesting coincidence that Tan has seized a shooting gold medal every 12 years at the National Games. Twelve is a special number in China, which attaches different animal signs to each lunar year in a cycle of 12 years.
"My love for shooting keeps me fighting. It makes me more composed and mature," said Tan. "I am very glad to join our national team, but my age may fail me as an athlete," he added.
Apart from the title and the record, Tan won respect from his younger rivals, who are about 20 or even 30 years younger than him.
"Brother Tan is my model, and it is an honor to compete with him," said the event's bronze medalist, 18-year-old Wang Zhehao of Xinjiang, who is competing at his first National Games.
Tan started practicing shooting when he was an eighth grader, and was called up into the Shandong provincial shooting team in 1988.
In 1993, Tan was selected for the national shooting squad, having attended five Olympics so far with only one silver in 2008 Beijing Olympics.
As Tan nailed his third gold, he admitted that he still kept the Olympic dream deep alive as the 2020 Tokyo Games approach.
"I definitely want to shoot in Tokyo, because it is my dream to win an Olympic gold," Tan added. "I will try my best to see if there is an opportunity to compete in Tokyo."
