“Take the Gold and Party On!"

It seems as if they were sisters. Not only are they roommates and always hanging out together, but also they seemed to be the perfect pair when it came to training. This has been proven time and time again in their games. The sisters are women’s air rifle shooters Cho Eun-yong and Seo Sun-hwa. Together, they are training to become the first Korean Olympic gold medalists at Athens. August 14 at 4 p.m. is their D-day. This event is where Yeo Gab-soon won the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and Kang Cho-hyun won the silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

This is why all eyes are focused on what the sisters will show Korea, and their confidence is at its peak. This has been proven by the fact that they passed the rigorous domestic Olympic team selection process.

Cho Eun-yong has already scored an impressive perfect score of 400 points twice, and Seo Sun-hwa has had international experience at the 2002 Sydney World Cup by winning the gold. In preparation for the upcoming Olympics, they are going through their final training sessions at Junbuk composite indoor Rifle Stadium. The stadium is located in such a remote town that you need to take a taxi just to take care of simple tasks such as getting a haircut. Target practice starts in the mornings, and physical training to improve endurance is held during the afternoons.

Although roommates Cho Eun-yong and Seo Sun-hwa are part of the same Uljin County office team, they know how to encourage each other by competing with each other to bring out their best. When going against the world`s finest shooters at the Olympics, the most important goal is to control oneself with a steady yet consistent pace in order to win. If only they perform as well as they normally do, there seems to be no problem. Therefore the team always tries to stay in its best condition.

Seo Sun-hwa has recently shot 60 consecutive bull’s-eyes, which proves that she is ready to go, and Cho Eun-yong, well-known as a veteran of the event, has displayed the confident yet calm posture during her games that only an experienced athlete can show.

"I just hope I can do what I always have been doing," said Seo.

"I will try my best to prepare, and whether I win or lose, I`ll try to enjoy the moment," said Cho.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com