WUHAN -- After surpassing the men's 10 meters air rifle world record in the 6th Chinese City Games, Olympic champion Zhu Qinan has set a higher aim -- to break the national record one more time.

Olympic Champion Zhu Qinan aims at the target during a match in the 6th Chinese City Games. [Xinhua]

The 2004 Olympic gold medalist outscored the world mark of 703.1 points, set by Austrian Thomas Farnik, as he won the City Games title in 703.7 on Friday, a new national record.

"My aim is to break more national records," said Zhu.

The previous national record held by his teammate Li Jie stood at 703.4 points, 0.3 points higher than the world record.

"Zhu Qinan made a good start," said Wang Yifu, head coach of the national team. "I had predicted Zhu to surprise us. But I didn't expect him to be so good."

Wang has confidence in the marksman. "He has potential in other disciplines as well, such as the men's 50m rifle three positions," he said.

Zhu's teammate Cao Yifei stole attention in another way.

National record holder of the men's 50m rifle prone with a score of 702.7 points, the 19-year-old from southwest China's Sichuan Province captured three gold medals in the 50m rifle prone, rifle three positions and 10m air rifle team event, with his last competition in the men's 50m rifle three positions event on Tuesday afternoon most eye-catching.

Eight points behind the top finalist Liu Gang and tied with Zhu Qinan, the teenage shooter managed to surpass the Asian Games gold medalist and knock the world champion to snatch gold with his stable performance.

"In the final, I tried not to look at the scores on the screen, just concentrating on my performance," he said.

"He is young, but he appeared calm and composed in competition, " said Wang Yifu.

Cao, however, is unlikely to be crowned in his specialty event in the 2008 Olympics.

Ranked No. 4 in the men's 50m rifle prone in the national team, Cao is unable to compete in the upcoming Asian championships in Kuwait for a ticket to the Olympics.

"Competing in the Olympics is a dream of every athlete," said the shooter. "But I couldn't think too much of this. My current job is to improve myself and do well in each competition."