China’s world number one Yi Siling won the first gold of the London Olympics in the women’s 10m air rifle competition at London’s Royal Artillery Barracks on Saturday.
In a tense contest watched by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, Poland’s Sylwia Bogacka took silver after a fierce battle for the top spot while Yu Dan of China clinched bronze.
Yi, 23, who won the title at the 2010 world championships in Munich, had a total winning score of 502.9, 0.7 points ahead of Bogacka, on 502.2. Yu finished with 501.5. Defending Olympic champion Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic finished fourth.
Yi, who was well off her own world record of 505.6, said it felt good to be the first gold medal winner of the 2012 Games.
“It’s very exciting,” she said. “I’m very happy. I’m very grateful to China. And to my mother and father who I love very much. I am pleased, not nervous like I was in the competition. I have been up since five this morning. There was a lot of pressure on me. I think I myself have changed. I feel like I’ve grown up and then I think this is going to bring some changes to my life as well.”
Bogacka earlier finished top of qualifying with Yi in second place and the two were locked together in an agonisingly tight duel in the final which started with both scoring 10.8 out of possible 10.9 in the first shot. But Yi held her nerve under intense pressure, taking advantage of some slips from the Pole, grabbing the title with 10.3 and 10.5 in her last two shots.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2012.
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