Yang Qian, of China, competes in the women's 10-meter air rifle at the Asaka Shooting Range in the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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China’s Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Saturday, July 24 in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event in the sport of shooting.
Yang received a score of 9.8 on her final shot and overtook Russia’s Anastasiia Galashina who missed the center two rings for an 8.9 on her final effort in the morning at Asaka Shooting Range.
The 21-year-old Yang, who began practicing shooting in 2011 and is a first time Olympian, finished with an Olympic record overall total score of 251.8. Russia’s Galashina was 0.7 points behind at 251.1 to secure the silver medal.
"I'm extremely proud and happy to win," said Yang, according to BBC.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was on hand to present the medals. Switzerland’s Nina Christen won the bronze.
As no medalists from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were taking part the competition was seen as wide open.
Going into the final, Jeanette Hegg Duestad from Norway was leading, with Yang and Galashina in sixth and eighth, respectively, but Duestad faltered and finished outside the medals in fourth place.
Shooting at the Olympics includes 15 total events in three disciplines: rifle, pistol and shotgun. Olympians compete in six events each for men and women and three mixed team events.
Author: Arielle Busetto
