CHINESE SHOOTER YANG Qian won the first gold of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, snatching a dramatic last-shot victory from Russia’s Anastasiia Galashina in the women’s 10m air rifle final.
Yang claimed gold with an Olympic record score of 251.8, edging ahead of Russian Anastasiia Galashina on 251.1 and Switzerland’s Nina Christen on 230.6.
Advertisement
Galashina had looked poised to claim gold heading into the last shot, but stumbled with 8.9 on her final effort to allow Yang to seal victory.
The event took place the morning after the Olympics opened in a nearly empty stadium, following an unprecedented postponement and a build-up marred by scandal and controversy.
The first medal ceremony of the Games saw Yang presented with her gold by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
Yang draped the medal around her neck after being handed the gold on a tray offered by Bach, in keeping with Covid-19 protocols in place at the Games.
With fans barred from venues, only a handful of Chinese support staff were on hand to congratulate Yang after the win.
Christen took bronze ahead of Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad, who led after the qualifying round.
Sign Up
Tokyo 2020
Sign up for The42's free round-up of all the Olympic news you need to know, direct to your inbox first thing every morning
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Chinese shooter Yang wins first gold of Tokyo Olympics
CHINESE SHOOTER YANG Qian won the first gold of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, snatching a dramatic last-shot victory from Russia’s Anastasiia Galashina in the women’s 10m air rifle final.
Yang claimed gold with an Olympic record score of 251.8, edging ahead of Russian Anastasiia Galashina on 251.1 and Switzerland’s Nina Christen on 230.6.
Galashina had looked poised to claim gold heading into the last shot, but stumbled with 8.9 on her final effort to allow Yang to seal victory.
The event took place the morning after the Olympics opened in a nearly empty stadium, following an unprecedented postponement and a build-up marred by scandal and controversy.
The first medal ceremony of the Games saw Yang presented with her gold by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
Yang draped the medal around her neck after being handed the gold on a tray offered by Bach, in keeping with Covid-19 protocols in place at the Games.
With fans barred from venues, only a handful of Chinese support staff were on hand to congratulate Yang after the win.
Christen took bronze ahead of Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad, who led after the qualifying round.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Bullseye Olympics tokyo 2020