BEIJING - He likes to play with toy guns when he was a little boy. But at that time, nobody had expected Pang Wei could one day become an Olympic shooting champion.

Pang Wei of China poses after winning the gold medal in the men's air pistol shooting competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 9, 2008. [Agencies] Click for more photos

Pang Wei is name of the Chinese Olympic debutant who nailed down gold medal in men's 10-meter air pistol event with 688.2 points on Saturday.

For this success, the reticent boy said he had prepared for four years.

But those close to him know that the efforts he paid were more than that.

Born in July 1986 in the Baoding city of northern Hebei Province, Pang saw his life changed in September 2000, when, talking about his toy guns piled like in a weapon warehouse, a neighbor told him "you should practice shooting if you like guns so much".

The 14-year-old student was excited at the idea.

"If he really likes it, why not give it a try?" his parents then sent him to the amateurish sports school of Baoding.

However, they later regreted for the decision seeing their son's academic study affected, and asked him to quit.

"The boy was quite docile. He wouldn't argue with his parents but you can see his reluctance," said Pang Wei's aunt Pang Yanchun.

And the coach Zhang Guangwei told his parents, "I wouldn't oppose if other children's parents ask them to withdraw. But Pang Wei is such a talented shooter and it would be a pity if he gives up."

Therefore, Pang's parents made a bold decision, which was later proved as a correct one: to have him drop out of school and concentrate in training.

"If he couldn't compete as a shooter, at least he could become a soldier," his father Pang Yanhong thought.

His grandmother was surprised to find that the boy, who lacked patience when studying, became sober after the training. "I said to myself, with this persistence, he could achieve something."

Training every day took seven hours. To enhance stability of arms, Pang had to lift bricks for a long time. But he was among the a few who sticked to his shooter dream.