CHINA WINS LONDON 2012 FIRST GOLD MEDAL

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.
China's Yi Siling
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. Very happy. I'm very grateful to
China. And to my mother and father who I love very
much," she said.
"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," she added.
And Yi said being Olympic champion would change
her life.
"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.
Bogacka slipped to third after the ninth shot but her
final effort (10.8) lifted her into the silver medal
position.
"Amazing, really, really amazing. The people were
amazing. I'm very happy," said the Pole, 30. "I have
been shooting for 18 years. This is everything to me."
When asked where she felt she lost the gold medal,
she said: "I shot one 9.7, I think that was the reason I
fell down."
The top eight competitors from the qualification
round reached the final, shooting a further 10 shots,
each fired individually under timed conditions.
The score in the final is added to the score achieved
in the qualification round to determine the winner.
On home soil in 2008, the powerful Chinese took five
of the 15 golds on offer, making them the top
performers ahead of the United States.












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