First Olympic gold medal awarded to Chinese shooter
Eleven hours after the queen officially opened the Games of the XXX Olympiad and seven British youngsters lit the Olympic cauldron, the first gold medal of the Games was awarded. China's Yi Siling was victorious in the women's 10-meter air rifle shooting, an event which began before noon Saturday in London.
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Yi narrowly finished ahead of Poland's Sylwia Bogacka in the competition. The two went shot for shot through much of the 10-shot competition before Yi, the prohibitive favorite entering the event, pulled ahead for the victory. Bogacka settled for the silver medal.
Yi's Chinese teammate, Dan Yu, finished with the bronze medal. This was Yi's first Olympic competition. The "Shooting Beauty," as she's been known, won the world championships in the 10m event in 2010.
Two Americans -- Jamie-Lynn Gray and Sarah Scherer -- were in the top eight, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.
Defending Olympic champion, Katie Emmonso of the Czech Republic, struggled to make the final and could only muster a fourth-place finish. She is the wife of American shooting gold medalist Matt Emmons.
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