Bulgaria's Grozdeva Dramatically Fails to Reach 25-Meter Pistol Final

Bulgaria’s Maria Grozdeva and South Korea's Kim Jangmi prepare to shoot during qualifiers for the women's 25-meter pistol event, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, in London. Photo by The Daily Reporter

Two-time Olympic shooting champion and five-time medalist Maria Grozdeva failed to reach the 25-meter pistol final even though she did the impossible to make up for a disappointing start.

Grozdeva scored 284 points in the precision stage before adding 293 in the rapid stage to collect a total of 582 points.

In the second flow the Bulgarian living legend did the impossible and scored 299 points in the rapid stage, taking her total score up to 583 points.

Jo Yong Suk of North Korea and Zorana Arunovic of Serbia won the shoot-off, denying Maria Grozdeva a spot in the final and a chance of a third Olympic victory.

Grozdeva won the 25-meter pistol title in 2000 and '04.

Kim Jang-mi of South Korea set a new Olympic qualification record of 591 points to reach the final of the women's 25-meter pistol Wednesday, beating the 12-year-old previous mark by one point.

Kim scored 298 points in the precision stage before adding 293 in the rapid stage to break the record set by Tao Luna of China at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Kim is the Youth Olympic Games champion and dominated the London World Cup in April on the same Royal Artillery Barracks range. The 19-year-old Kim beat the field by five points with a world record at the World Cup.

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