Shooting star wins three gold medals

Hailing from Xieng Khuang province, the land of the revolutionary struggle, Lao shooter Ms Khamla Xayavong has inherited the sharpness and acuity that helped to liberate the nation.

On Monday she became the first Lao shooter to capture a gold medal in SEA Games history.

Not content with just one, she has captured a trio of golden medallions as a shining example of her marksmanship and prowess with the rifle.

Khamla is 21 years old, and won a historic first gold medal in the individual women's 10m running target event. This was followed by a second gold medal in the women's team 10m running target event, and yet a third in the women's 10m running target mixed category.

Her shooting skill in competition doesn't stop with gold medals; she has also won a silver medal in the women's 10m running target mixed team category.

Her first gold medal was not only the first ever in the sport for Laos , but her score of 367.0 was a new SEA Games record. The previous highest score in this event was 358.0.

Khamla also created a new SEA Games record in the women's team 10m running target mixed event with a score of 1,040 points, even though her team only scooped the silver medal. The previous highest score in this event was 1,035 points.

The Vietnamese team who won the gold medal in this event also set a new record with 1,043 points, only 3 points higher than the Lao team.

The medals are a wonderful present for Khamla as she approaches her 22nd birthday on December 30.

“I am very excited and happy to win these medals, which I had in my sights because I have been training hard since the beginning of this year,” she said.

The medals would be presents for her parents as well as for her country, she said.

Khamla was born in Khang Khai village in Paek district, Xieng Khuang province. She is a soldier by profession and is the youngest daughter of five children in her family. Her parents and three siblings live in Xieng Khuang, while she lives with her older sister in Vientiane .

She was a soldier in 2006 when the Asean shooting unit in Vientiane went to the provinces to recruit shooters. She joined up and began a new life at the Km 27 shooting training centre in Vientiane .

She had never used guns before the unit selected her for training.

“I was selected because the unit said I had a talent for shooting, which I like, and I also always wanted to be a soldier,” Khamla said.

She started shooting with the short gun. She trained for five months in 2006, then went for further training in Vietnam for two more months. There she tried out in some competitions, but did not win any medals.

On her return to Laos she trained in using the shooting gun and had more training at the centre in Vientiane . In 2008, she took part in an Asean competition in Thailand but failed to win a medal.

While training at the Vientiane centre in April 2008 she came to the attention of the Lao Shooting Federation who chose her for possible competition in the 25th SEA Games.

The federation eventually selected her for the national team. Then she returned to Vietnam for six months training, which she found very hard.

“But I didn't complain. I can eat any food and I can easily eat Vietnamese food,” she said with a smile.

After the training was up she attended an international shooting competition in Thailand in November 2008.

It was here that she won her first gold medal for the women's team 10m target running shooting event, as well as two silver medals in both the team and individual categories.

It was her first success in international competition.

After that, she returned to Vietnam for another three months of training, coming back to Laos for the National Games in Champassak province.

She then continued her training in Laos until the start of the SEA Games.

“I am very proud to fulfil my duty and win three gold medals and one silver medal for Laos , in line with the wishes of the Party and government,” Khamla said.

“In the future, I will try to improve my shooting skills and hope to be a national shooter forever if the nation still needs me.”

By Panyasith Thammavongsa
(Latest Update December 16, 2009)