Pistol ace Johnathan eyes podium finish in Paris
KUALA LUMPUR: National shooter Johnathan Wong Guanjie hopes to rectify all his weaknesses through a series of competitions and training stints to achieve his Olympic podium dream.
The 31-year-old is determined to display his finest form in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris Games scheduled from July 26 to Aug 11.
Aer having missed the final round at Rio 2016 and failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he hopes to have a memorable outing in Paris this time around.
“Personally, I am hoping for the podium because this is my second time to the Olympics. My target is to score as high as possible (in the qualification round) to advance to the final, from there will try to workout on how to fare in the final, which uses the elimination format.
“Pressure is always there, but I think I am able to manage my expectations much beer this time.
“The ISN (National Sports Institute (NSI) team has identified the things I could do to improve my performances,” he said when met by reporters aer a visit by Chef-de-Mission (CDM) Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin and his deputy Datuk Nicol David to his training session on Thursday.
In the run up to the Olympics, he is expected to participate in the World Cup series in Baku, Azerbaijan from May 1 to 12 and Munich, Germany from May 31 to June 8.
Johnathan said, among others, he needs to work on his physical and mental strength to face the Olympics challenge.
The two-time SEA Games champion said during a monthlong training and competitions in Denmark, recently, he had also worked on endurance.
“The main objective of preparations in Denmark, was to identify the weaknesses I have.
“I had participated in three back to back competitions, mainly to see how far I could push myself.
“Though Olympics is not so demanding, but it will help myself beer prepare in terms of both physical and mental for the Olympics,” said Johnathan, who bagged a silver in the Denmark Open, recently.
At the Rio Games, he missed the final as top eight aer finishing 28th among 46 contestants. — Bernama