Olympics-Shooting-China's Yang grabs first gold of Games, Iran's
Foroughi takes pistol title
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[July 24, 2021]
By Mari Saito
TOKYO (Reuters) -China's Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the
Tokyo Olympics on Saturday after prevailing in a battle of nerves
with Russian Anastasiia Galashina in the women's 10-metre rifle
final.
Galashina barely made it to the final, grabbing the last of the
eight qualifying slots, but was in pole position for gold until she
cracked under the pressure.
That pressure also weighed heavily on South Korean shooting great
Jin Jong-oh, whose quest for a record-extending fifth individual
Olympic gold fell short when he failed to qualify for the final of
the men's 10m air pistol.
Javad Foroughi comfortably beat an elite field to win gold, Iran's
first ever shooting medal, with a Games record total of 244.8 in the
final.
Foroughi told reporters he was able to maintain his composure in the
final because he had stumbled in qualification but still made it
through.
"That's why I was relaxed during the final because in the
qualification round I was so nervous and still did well," he said.
Serbian Damir Mikec finished second on 237.9, ahead of 2008 Beijing
Olympics champion Pang Wei of China. Defending Olympic champion
Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam could not make the final.
In the women's rifle final, Galashina's hopes were dashed by her
last shot of 8.9, which was the lowest of any competitor in the
final, leaving her on a total of 251.1.
Yang was not immune to the pressure at the Asaka Shooting Range
either but her below-par final shot of 9.8 was still enough to
snatch the gold with an Olympic record total of 251.8.
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Gold medallist Yang Qian of China
celebrates on the podium REUTERS/Ann Wang
In the stands, supporters and team
mates watched the nail-biting women's final, cheering to the rock
music piped into the venue.
"We did train how to perform under
pressure. The coaches would actually create a nerve-wracking
atmosphere and try to pressure us," Yang told reporters after
winning an event which did not feature a single medallist from Rio.
Galashina said the pressure got to her on the final shot.
"I got too nervous, held on too long. My thoughts were not in the
right place. I lost concentration. The explanation is very simple,"
Galashina said.
Russian athletes are competing under the flag of the Russian Olympic
Committee (ROC) at the Tokyo Olympics this year as part of sanctions
for several doping scandals.
Norwegian Jeanette Hegg Duestad had set an Olympic qualifying record
of 632.9 to reach the final but finished just outside the medals.
(Reporting by Mari Saito and Amlan Chakraborty; Additional reporting
by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber;Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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