Germany's Manfred Kurzer broke the world record for the qualification round of the men's 10m running target shooting event en route to winning the gold medal at the Athens Olympics on Thursday.

Kurzer scored 590 points in the qualification round to beat the previous best of 588 set by Russian Igor Kolesov in 2002.

The 34-year-old shot 92.4 in the final to finish a total of 682.4 points.

Russia's Alexander Blinov took the silver on 678 points, while his compatriot Dimitri Lykin grabbed the bronze on 677.1.

Li Jie of China, a replacement for his compatriot and two-time Olympic champion Yang Ling who sprained his Achilles tendon during a badminton frolic only days before the Games, finished sixth.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2004)