Baku, August 4 (AZERTAC). Leuris Pupo earned his first major championship and gave Cuba its first shooting gold medal at an Olympics, winning the 25-meter rapid fire pistol at the London Games on Friday.

Pupo scored 34 shots in the final, beating silver medalist Vijay Kumar of India by four shots. His only previous victory was at a World Cup event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1998. At the past three Olympics, he finished ninth, eighth and seventh.

"I can`t believe it, but it`s true," Pupo said. "This is the height of glory for the people in Cuba."

Ding Feng of China won bronze with 27 points.

Pupo said the win meant a lot for his family because his wife is pregnant. He said his mindset changed in the final as he went slightly ahead of the field.

"There were a lot of things going on in my mind," Pupo said. "First I was thinking about bronze. Then I started thinking I could win it."

Pupo reached the final in third position after Alexei Klimov of Russia set a world record in qualification with 592 points, a total that beat his own mark from 2006 by one point.