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[스포츠뉴스]Sports shooters Ban Hyo-jin and Yang Ji-in rely on mindset for results ahead of Asian Games

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2026-01-14 11:55:00

<div class="ab_photo photo_center ab_zoom">  <div class="image">   <span class="end_photo_org"><img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/01/14/0000083034_001_20260114115612812.jpg" alt="" /><em class="img_desc">Shooter Ban Hyo-jin poses for a photo after winning the gold medal in the women’s 10-meter air rifle at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris, France on July 29, 2024. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]</em></span>   <span class="mask"></span>  </div>  </div>    <br> The sporting schedule for 2026 is set to be packed with major events &#8212; the Winter Olympics in February, the FIFA World Cup in North America in June and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September. Among Korea's top gold medal hopefuls at the Asian Games are shooters Ban Hyo-jin and Yang Ji-in.  <br>    <br> Ban, now just 19 years old, won gold in the women’s 10-meter air rifle at the 2024 Paris Olympics when she was only 16. A note stuck to the corner of her laptop &#8212; “I’m the best in this world, anyway!” &#8212; became a sensation. The phrase was inspired by K-pop singer Jang Won-young’s iconic mindset, giving rise to the term “Hyojin-style thinking.”  <br><br>“Kids these days don’t really say things like ‘the best,’” Ban said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “I wrote it in red to hypnotize myself when I was having a rough time in competition. I’m far from perfect, but so are the others &#8212; that’s the mindset I try to keep.”  <br>    <br> She still keeps the note in her training journal and carries it like a good-luck charm.  <br>    <br> A fresh graduate from Daegu Physical Education High School, Ban has a youthful face, but shows no hesitation when she pulls the trigger on the firing line. Her personality is just as bold. In the final round of the Paris Olympics, her last shot scored just 9.6, but she secured gold by a margin of 0.1 points after a shoot-off.  <br>    <br> “I lost to the same Chinese shooter [Huang Yuting] by 0.1 points at the World Cup the year before, so I thought, ‘This time, the stage was set for me to win,’” said Ban.  <br>    <br> <div class="ab_photo photo_center ">  <div class="image">   <span class="end_photo_org"><img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/01/14/0000083034_002_20260114115612906.jpg" alt="" /><em class="img_desc">A note stuck to the corner of shooter Ban Hyo-jin's laptop reads “I’m the best in this world anyway!” [BAN HYO-JIN]</em></span>   <span class="mask"></span>  </div>  </div>    <br> Ban started with taekwondo in elementary school but took up shooting in middle school at the suggestion of a friend.  <br>    <br> Her mother opposed the idea, saying “You have to be No. 1 or nothing in sports,” so Ban made her point by winning first place at a local tournament just two months later. Three years after picking up a rifle, she stood atop the Olympic podium.  <br>    <br> Though naturally gifted, Ban was also intensely focused.    <br>    <br> “I watched so many videos of pro shooters on YouTube that I memorized who shot what score and when,” she said.  <br>    <br> The 10-meter air rifle event involves aiming at a 0.5-millimeter (0.02-inch) target &#8212; about the thickness of a mechanical pencil lead. Ban has 0.2 vision and aims through a lens on the rifle’s rear sight with one eye.  <br>    <br> <div class="ab_photo photo_center ">  <div class="image">   <span class="end_photo_org"><img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/01/14/0000083034_003_20260114115613027.jpg" alt="" /><em class="img_desc">Shooter Ban Hyo-jin prepares to shoot during a training session before a match at Changwon International Shooting Range in Changwon, South Gyeongsang on Oct. 11, 2024. [YONHAP] </em></span>   <span class="mask"></span>  </div>  </div>    <br> Air rifle is a sport where one's center of gravity is skewed to one side. In 2023, Ban developed inflammation in her left knee and strained ligaments in her hip joint. She couldn’t even run. Watching friends do laps around the track while she counted the circuits brought her to tears.  <br>    <br> She won gold again at the 2025 Cairo World Championships, defending her title as “the best in the world.” Now, only the Asian Games and the Asian Championships stand between her and a career grand slam.  <br>    <br> “I’ll keep telling myself &#8212; even in Nagoya &#8212; that I’m still the best in the world,” she said.  <br>    <br> Yang Ji-in, who won gold in the women’s 25-meter pistol at the Paris Olympics, also defended her world title last November, maintaining her top global ranking for a second consecutive year.  <br>    <br> <div class="ab_photo photo_center ">  <div class="image">   <span class="end_photo_org"><img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/01/14/0000083034_004_20260114115613118.jpg" alt="" /><em class="img_desc">Shooter Yang Ji-in poses for a photo in this file image provided by the Korea Shooting Federation [KOREA SHOOTING FEDERATION]</em></span>   <span class="mask"></span>  </div>  </div>    <br> The final round uses a rapid-fire format, where shooters must hit targets, scoring 10.2 or higher in just three seconds. Yang also won gold in Paris after a shoot-off.  <br>    <br> She first picked up a pistol in seventh grade and won the national championship one year later. With vision under 0.1, she wears glasses at the firing line. Her stone-faced composure has earned her a reputation for mental toughness.  <br>    <br> Her motto is “My future self will figure it out.” Shooting insiders believe this “Ji-in-style thinking” is the secret behind her elite performance. With reliance on composure, shooting rewards clear and simple thinking &#8212; the more minimal the movement, the better the result.  <br>    <br> “Life is just something you do because you’re born,” she said. “Even if I seem carefree, I run straight toward my goals &#8212; kind of like the worldview of Kian84,” she added, referencing the cartoonist and TV personality.  <br>    <br> Yang also competes in the 10-meter air pistol and could emerge as a multiple gold medalist at the Asian Games. Asked to say a word to her future self, she answered calmly, “Even if you’re shaking, it doesn’t change the situation. Just shoot like ‘whatever happens, happens.’ You’ll figure it out. You’ve got this.”  <br><br><i>This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.</i>

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