25m Pistol Woman – Zhao (CHN): first final, first gold
China did it again. The home team presented a new face, a 21-year old shooter who had never competed before in an international match, and that young shooter won gold preceding titled Olympians.
ZHAO Xu confirmed once more the leadership of the People Republic of China in rifle an pistol Olympic events. The 21-year old athlete, who had never competed within the ISSF frame before, won gold after climbing from the eighth place. To get into the final match, she had to defeat Yuliya BONDAREVA of Kazakhstan in a shoot-off 51.8 to 51.3 points. Then, during the final, she shot an outstanding final score of 207.6 points, overtaking her titled opponents, winning her first medal ever in front of her home supporters.
Behind her, the Australian pistol master Lalita YAUHLEUSKAYA, 45, finished in second, winning Silver 786.1 points (585+201.1).
Bronze went to Belarus’ Viktoria CHAIKA, who lost the leadership and finished the match in third after firing a disappointing last shot of 7.2 points on her last series. She won her first 2009 medal with 785.7 points (585+200.7).
