He was trying to become the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in the 10m air pistol, and also the first South Korean athlete to win a gold in three straight Olympics, summer or winter.

He won a gold and a silver in 2008 and then two gold medals in 2012.

Jin will have another opportunity next Wednesday, when he will try to defend his 50m pistol gold.

Jin had little to say to reporters afterward, muttering, "I'm sorry," as he walked through the mixed zone.

Jin had a mediocre start to the final, stuck in fourth place at

30.5 points after his first three shots.

He then failed to crack 10 points over his next three shots in the second series, dropping to fifth place with 59.9 points, 2.6 points back of the leader, Felipe Almeida Wu of Brazil.

In one stretch, Jin put five straight shots in the 9s, an unusual show of futility for a shooter of his caliber.

The South Korean kept plodding along, never rising above fourth place with the leaders continuing to shoot in the 10s.

He finally showed some life with 10.6 out of a maximum 10.9 with his 13th shot, leapfrogging him from fifth to third, but still

2.8 points behind the leader, Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam.

The 14th shot, however, would be Jin's last one, as 9.1 knocked him out of the competition altogether.

Hoang hung on to beat Wu for the gold medal with an Olympic record score of 202.5 points. Wu, with the raucous and partisan crowd behind him, finished 0.4 point behind.

Pang Wei of China won the bronze with 180.4 points. (Yonhap)