The diligent boy entered provincial team of Hebei two years later, and was accepted as the youngest member by the national shooting team as "reserve" in 2005.

His first gold medal came in 2006, when the team planned to have him compete in junior events at the World Championships, but the dark horse was crowned in men's 10m air rifle at the adult team.

The glory was so unexpected that Pang even didn't prepare uniform for the awarding ceremony. And Pang Yanhong treated it as a joke when his son called to tell him the good news.

More and more he competed, the boy became used to life like that.

"Competitions are athletes' holidays," he said.

At the Olympic Games, the boy wore ceremony uniform when competing in the final.

When asked for the reason, he said, "on the one hand, it was warm to wear it. On the other hand, I wanted to borrow some good luck from the clothes."

Apparently also joyful, Wang Yifu, head coach of the Chinese shooting squad who holds the Olympic record in Pang's discipline 10-meter air pistol, took a group photo with Pang.

"We are all glad to see the kid wins gold medal," he said fondly.

"Seeing him opening fire at the shooting range, I seemed to see the former me," added the coach.

Facts about Pang Wei:

Date of Birth: July 19, 1986

Birth place: Hebei Province

Height: 178cm

Weight: 74kg

Coach: Wang Yifu

Career:

2006, gold medal in 10-meter air pistol at Zegreb World Championship

2007, bronze medal in 10-meter air pistol at World Cup Final

2008, silver medal in 50-meter pistol at Munich World Cup