JOIN USGuo nails gold in sizzling fashion
China’s Guo Wenjun produced a near-perfect last shot to claim gold in the women’s 10 metre air pistol, retaining her Olympic title in a topsy-turvy final of nerve-jangling shooting on Sunday.
Guo finished with 488.1 points, with France’s Celine Goberville claiming silver in a shootoff with Ukraine’s Olena Kostevych after both finished on 486.6.
Guo threw her hands over her face in disbelief after scoring a 10.8 -- just shy of the maximum 10.9 -- to overhaul Goberville, who held a 0.5 advantage going into the 10th and decisive round.
The 25-year-old Frenchwoman was only able to muster a disappointing 8.8 with her final effort.
“I just focused on doing my best with the final shot,” an elated Guo said after winning China’s second shooting gold of the Games. “It means I’m the best. I am so excited. I was just focusing on the competition and not on the others.”
The 28-year-old Chinese had topped the qualifying with a score of 388 out of 400 from her 40 shots to reach the eight-woman final at the Royal Artillery Barracks in south east London, but began the final nervously.
In front of a packed crowd in the indoor shooting range, the Chinese fired a woeful 8 to open the door to her European counterparts, who both finished with 387 in qualifying.
Kostevych, the 2004 Athens Games gold medallist, then took advantage after the first round with a 10.1 and she shared the lead with Guo and Goberville after the second.
Guo and Goberville then exchanged the lead, with the Chinese struggling to replicate the Frenchwoman’s consistency.
Goberville reeled off five scores of 10.1 or better to take a 0.5 point advantage into the final round, only to produce her worst shot of the day, an 8.8, to surrender the lead.
Guo’s victory followed countrywoman Yi Siling’s triumph on Saturday when she won the first gold of the Games in the 10M air rifle as China made a strong start in London.
Rhode bags crown
Shooter Kimberley Rhode etched her name into the annals of great American Olympians on Sunday when she easily won the women's skeet gold medal to become the first US competitor to win individual medals in five consecutive Games.
Rhode finished with a total of 99 points, only missing one of the 100 clays she shot at all day, ahead of Wei Ning of China on 91 with Slovakia's Danka Bartekova (90) taking bronze after a shootoff with Marina Belikova of Russia.
The world number one drew successful green dust after shooting her first 50 orange clays in her opening two qualification sessions on the outdoor range before missing her only shot in the third and last session during the rain.