Roommates but not rivals: Two South Korean shooters win Olympic gold and silver

CHATEAUROUX, France (AP) — They're roommates and Olympic record-breakers but not rivals. Even in a shootout for the gold medal.

Two South Korean shooters with a special bond fought for gold without bitterness Sunday at Paris Olympics ' shooting range. Oh Ye Jin took the gold and Kim Yeji the silver in women's 10-meter air pistol — and both beat the previous record — but said it didn't much matter who won.

“She is like my youngest sibling, and I always want to care for her and always be there for her. So, when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy," said silver medalist Kim, who at 31 is 12 years older than her teammate.

“I do not view her as my rival. This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver. When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans. I thought it did not matter who won the gold.”

Oh and Kim were the last two shooters left in a format that eliminates competitors one by one. “We could really help each other, so there was less pressure for us,” Oh said.

Oh took the gold with a score of 243.2 points and finished strongly to hold off Kim on 241.3. Eight of Oh's last nine shots scored at least 10 points of a possible 10.9. They'll compete again Monday in qualification for the mixed team air pistol event.

The bronze went to Manu Bhaker of India, who was eliminated on 221.7, just .1 off Kim's score at the time, before the gold-medal shootout between the South Korean teammates. It was India's first medal of any kind at the 2024 Paris Olympics and its first ever in women's shooting.

The previous Olympic record for a women's 10-meter air pistol final stood at 240.3, set by Russian shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina in Tokyo three years ago. Batsarashkina is not among the small number of Russians competing in Paris as Individual Neutral Athletes.

Oh's gold medal was the first in shooting at the 2024 Olympics to be won by a country other than China, which won the first gold of the Games on Saturday and added a second on Sunday in men's 10-meter air pistol.

Xie Yu scored 240.9 for the gold medal ahead of two Italian shooters. Federico Nilo Maldini had the silver on 240 and Paolo Monna led the competition at midway but was eliminated in bronze-medal position on 218.6 after some costly errors.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Gold medalist China's Xie Yu, center, celebrates with silver medalist Italy's Frederico Nilo Maldini, left, and bronze medalist taly's Paolo Monna after the 10m air pistol men's final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Gold medalist China's Xie Yu, center, celebrates with silver medalist Italy's Frederico Nilo Maldini, left, and bronze medalist taly's Paolo Monna after the 10m air pistol men's final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

China's Xie Yu celebrates after winning the gold medal in the 10m air pistol men's final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

South Korea's Oh Ye-Jin, left, and Kim Yeji are seen on an electronic screen during the 10m air pistol women's final round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. Oh Ye-Jin won the gold medal while Kim Yeji won the silver in the competition. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India's Manu Bhaker celebrates with the Indian flag after winning the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol women's final round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Silver medalist South Korea's Kim Yeji, left, gold medalist South Korea's Oh Ye-Jin, center, and bronze medalist India's Manu Bhaker celebrate after the 10m air pistol women's final round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

South Korea's Oh Ye-Jin celebrates after winning the gold medal in the 10m air pistol women's final round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them.

Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding more than 2,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack.

The AR-924 pagers used by the militants were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read.

Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles in the afternoon traffic, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding — leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.

It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.

The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters.

It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That’s something that would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common as the tiny nation on the Mediterranean Sea has faced years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.

For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to counteract what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks throughout the country.

“The phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech.

He later added: “I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife’s hands, and in your children’s hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it.”

Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard at a street that leads to the American University hospital where they bring wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)