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(BEIJING, August 8) – The Olympic Shooting competition will begin at the Beijing Shooting Range tomorrow morning, with two gold medals to be decided.

The finals of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and the Men’s 10m Air Pistol will be contested, while the qualification round of the Men’s Trap will also be held.

The final of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle starts at 10:30 a.m. local time, ensuring that the first gold medal of the Games will be given out to the winner. The favorites for the gold medal are Athens 2004 gold medalist Du Li (China), World No. 1 Sonja Pfeilschifter (Germany) and the winner of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle at the Good Luck Beijing ISSF World Cup in April 2008, Katerina Emmons (Czech Republic).

Two-time Olympian Pfeilschifter has yet to win an Olympic medal. The coach of the German shooting team, Claudia Kulla, said that Pfeilschifter is concentrating on her own performance rather than worrying about her opponents.

The Men’s 10m Air Pistol will start at 12:00 p.m. The favorites for the gold medal include France’s Franck Dumoulin, who is World No. 3 and won the Men’s 10m Air Pistol at the Good Luck Beijing ISSF World Cup. Dumoulin won the gold medal in the same event at Sydney 2000. 

China’s Pang Wei, who is only 22 years old, may be one of Dumoulin’s main challengers. The world’s top-ranked shooters in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol, Russia’s Vladimir Isakov and Vladimir Gontcharov are both not competing in the event at Beijing 2008.

World No. 1 Michael Diamond (Australia) will be the hot favorite in the Men’s Trap. Diamond won gold medals in the event at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.  His main rival will be World No. 2 Alexey Alipov (Russia) who won gold in the event at Athens 2004. The qualification round for the Men’s Trap will take place between 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

(BEIJING, August — Shooting might be one of the less-known Olympic sports, but all eyes will be on the Women’s 10m Air Rifle Medal Ceremony, where the first gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games will be awarded to the winning athlete.

The US shooting team has been ranked near the top for years, winning more Olympic gold medals than any other country, 49 in all, more than the total number of medals won by Russia/USSR. But this year, China’s leading marksmen and women might very well dominate the tournament.

China, the host country of the 2008 Games, will be paying especially close attention to its favorite in the 10m Air Rifle event, Du Li, the gold medalist in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle at the 2004 Athens Games. Du will be looking to repeat her success of four years ago, this time on home soil.

Zhao Yinghui, who failed to place in the previous two Olympic Games, will join her teammate Du, as another one of China’s Olympic medal hopefuls.

But the big question this year is whether or not Du, Zhao, and the rest of the Chinese team will be able over to overcome the pressure that comes with performing before a home crowd.

Some of the worlds best marksmen have faltered before when playing on home-turf. Australia’s Michael Diamond, who won gold at home in the Men’s Trap at Sydney 2000, failed to win his third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal in the Individual Trap in front of a home crowd at the 2006 Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Diamond blamed his blunder on the pressure of not letting his countrymen and women down. He told reporters: “All these people turning out to watch us shoot, and without us winning gold previously they wouldn’t be here, they wouldn’t know what shooting is all about, so in a way I sort of feel bad.”

Similarly, fellow Australian Adam Vella, who failed to qualify for the finals in the same event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, blamed his less-than-perfect aim on the pressures of playing at home. After the shoot he remarked, “[shooting] in front of a home crowd, sort of puts you under a lot of extra pressure, and I just didn’t get on top of it the whole tournament.”

The kind of extra pressure that comes from playing on home turf is a major concern for Chinese shooter Zhang Shan, who believes what is normally seen as a home advantage, could in fact destabilize the performance of Chinese athletes. In 1992, Zhang won a gold medal at Barcelona in the Mixed Skeet. She was the first and last woman to win gold in the mixed event because separate skeet events began to be held for men and women from the 1996 Atlanta Games onward.

Taking Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang as an example, Zhang told reporters: “When he is abroad, when he is preparing to run, he doesn’t understand what the crowd is saying. It’s a case of, ‘If I don’t understand it, I don’t hear it.’” Liu Xiang, of course, is an exceptional case because he is a focal point for the entire Olympics. But Chinese shooters also face pressure.

Like Zhang Shan, the head coach of China’s shooting team, Wang Yifu, is worried that his shooters will be affected by the chatter of well-meaning local supporters. Wang has called the home advantage, the “home venue curse.”

The Chinese shooting team is worried that its shooters will be distracted by the scores being announced in Chinese, which makes them think more about the overall results and not the next shot.

“Being able to understand cheers from a Chinese-speaking crowd and home venue pressure are the biggest obstacles,” said Wang. Tan Zongliang, a veteran Chinese pistol shooter voiced a similar opinion: “I think understanding the scores, not only mine, but all of the others, does have a sort of influence.”

Wang’s trepidation may also be due to the poor performance of his team at the “Good Luck Beijing” ISSF World Cup in April this year. While Du Li snagged a gold medal in the Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions, she only came away with a bronze in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle. Chen Ying, World No. 6 in Women’s 25m Pistol, Jia Zhanbo, gold medalist at Athens for Men’s 50m rifle three positions, and Zhao Yinghui all failed to win a medal.

Besides being disturbed by the pressure and noise of the home crowd, the Chinese shooters also face a slew of highly-skilled competitors. Du and Zhao will need to beat Germany’s Sonja Pfeilschifter, World No.1 in both the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions.

In Women’s 25m Pistol, Chen Ying faces a tough field, including compatriot Guo Wenjun, who is the World No. 4 in the event. Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya will be looking for her first gold medal after winning a bronze in the event at Sydney 2000. World No. 2, Jasna Sekaric, from Serbia is already familiar with the Olympic venue after winning gold at the “Good Luck Beijing” ISSF World Cup.

World No. 1 in Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions, Jia Zhanbo, will be looking for another medal to add to his Olympic gold in Athens. Although he will have to improve his aim after a poor performance at the “Good Luck Beijing” ISSF World Cup, which was won by World No. 10 Josselin Henry of France.

Meanwhile, Michael Diamond will be competing for his third gold medal in the Men’s Trap. Diamond missed out at Athens 2004 after a well-publicized spat with his girlfriend supposedly interfered with his game. Men’s Trap is one of the few events that China does not have a top ten competitor. Diamond’s main competition will come from Russia’s Alexey Alipov, who won the gold medal at Athens 2004 and Slovakia’s Mario Filipovic, who is the World No. 4 and won the Men’s Trap at the “Good Luck Beijing” ISSF World Cup.

People’s Republic of China gains another Gold thanks to GUO Wenjun, a 24-year old athlete who climbed up the scoreboard to finish in first with a new, exciting, Final Olympic Record. Another record was set during the qualifications by the Russian World Champion Natalia PADERINA, who finished in second place after firing a frustrating 8.5 on her second competitions shot. Bronze to the Georgian champion SALUKVADZE “But I am too sad to celebrate” she commented.

The 10m Air Pistol Women Event saw the victory of the home champion, the 24-year old GUO Wenjun of China, who finished on the first step of the podium winning a precious Gold for China with a total score of 492.3 points (390 + 102.3). With this golden final score, the young shooter set a new Final Olympic Record, shattering the previous 490.1 held by Olga KLOCHNEVA, who had established it shooting for URS at the 1996 Games of Atlanta. GUO, starting her match in second place one point behind the current World Champion Natalia PADERINA of Russia, moved on the lead when her opponents fired a fatal 8.5 on her second competition shot. From there on, GUO kept the lead, running alone to the Gold supported by the numerous local spectators. “I couldn’t ask for any better – say GUO after the round – I won the this Gold after years of hard work, and I am happy. I did not change anything from the qualifications. – she continued – I just felt comfortable during the final round, and I tried to give my best” The Chinese shooter kept up with the expectations: she had been enlisted between the favourites after she had won two consecutive ISSF World Cup Stages in Munich and Milan, earlier this season.
Natalia PADERINA, 32, after loosing her front position, landed in second place winning the Silver medal with a score of 489.1 points (391 + 98.1). She had entered the final round with an impressive score of 391 points, a new Olympic Record, one point more then what shot by the Chinese athlete TAO Luna at the 2000 Games of Sydney. The excellent qualification result did not save her from the remount of GUO, and the Russian shooter could not recover after that 8.5 “I was a little bit disappointed. I fail to concentrate at the beginning of the match” commented PADERINA at the press conference “Anyway, this medal is priceless for me, I cannot describe my feelings right now” continued the Russian athlete, who had finished in fifth place at the last Games of Athens “GUO is very competitive – added PADERINA – maybe playing on her home soil was an advantage… I congratulate her!”
The battle for Bronze was won by the Georgian athlete Nino SALUKVADZE (39), the 1988 Olympic Silver medallist of Seoul. She won her duel against Jasna Sekaric of Serbia, finishing on the podium with a score of 487.4 points “It is a sad day for my country” only said SALUKVADZE “I am happy, but it is difficult to celebrate while my country is on war” . She preceded the five times Olympic medallist Jasna SEKARIC of Serbia, who closed her round in sixth place after a disappointing final of 96.9 points.

The Bronze winner of the 10m Air Pistol Women competition Nino SALUKVADZE of Georgia dedicated her medal to her people, while the country is experiencing tragic events. In spite of the war tension dividing their country, SALUKVADZE and the Russian PADERINA shared the podium kissing each other, reminding to the world that sport friendship can win any barrier.

Nino SALUKVADZE of Georgia, winner of the Olympic Bronze medal at today’s 10m Air Pistol Women Event, dedicated her medal to her country, which is currently experiencing tragic events “This is a small victory, but it is for my people. It is not easy to celebrate. I am very nervous: this is a difficult moment for my country.”
The Georgian athlete, 39-year old, stepped upon the Olympic Podium twenty years after her first Olympic medal, a Silver reached in this event at the Games of Seoul 1988. She finished on the third step of today’s podium near by the Silver medallist Natalia PADERINA of Russia. The two athletes kissed each other, sharing the podium’s step for the time of an hug after the medals awarding “Sport has nothing to do with politics – said Salukvadze at the press conference – our countries may be divided in this moment, but we are athletes, and our friendships goes over these barriers”. The current World Champion Natalia PADERINA, 32, confirmed the words of SALUKVADZE “We are friends. We have been shooting together in the URS team in the past days. And in this moment we are together again.”
“Last night the Georgian President called and told us we had better stay in Beijing. We could not sleep all the night. All we could think about was Georgia – concluded Salukvadze – If the world were to draw any lesson from what athletes do, there wouldn’t be any war. We live in the 21st century, after all, and we shouldn’t stoop so low as to rage war.”

Asia dominated the 10m Air Pistol Men Final. China, Korea and the People’s Republic of Korea shared the second podium of these Games: the final round saw the duel for Silver between the two shooters from the Korean peninsula, and the outstanding victory of the home champion PANG Wei, winner of the home spectators applauses.

Asia monopolized today’s 10m Air Pistol Men Event, the second shooting competition of the first day of this XXIX Olympiad of Beijing 2008. If the first podium of the Games (10m Air Rifle Women competition) had been reserved by Europe, the Air Pistol Men event turned out to be an exclusive heritage of the Asian shooters that conquered the three medals. The home athlete, the 2006 ISSF World Champion PANG Wei, 22, did not hide his intentions when he entered the final round in first place, starting the final match with two points of advantage on the followers and wearing the “medals suite” of the Chinese team “I did not mean to be arrogant! – claimed PANG during the press conference – the final hall is very cold because of the air conditioners, so I thought to wear the “medal suite” to be more comfortable while shooting…”
The Chinese champion did not suffer the pressure of the home court, has had happened two hours before to his team-mate DU Li in the Rifle Women match, and shot Gold without hesitations with a total score of 688.2 points (586+102.2) “Well, I did not know the results of the 10m Air Rifle competition – PANG admitted – we were kept away from journalists and media, to maintain the right focus before the pistol match.” But PANG could not avoid meeting the media crowding the final hall to follow his competition “I was not scared by cameras and lights. We are preparing these Games since four years, and I am used to compete on international stages. Sure, the Games are not the same, you feel it is different, and this explains those few mistakes I made during the final round” In spite of some minor disappointments, such as a first shot of 9.3 points, PANG had no difficulties to close on the highest step of the podium, to gain the first Olympic medal of Beijing 2008 in shooting for his country. The new Olympic Champion follows the footsteps of his coach, the 2004 Champion WANG Yifu who has been training him during the last years “My coach has an important role in this victory. But I was alone with my pistol on the final range, today. I will try to give my best in the following years, and I whish I could be so successful as the champions that preceded me.”
The Asian podium was completed by JIN Jong Oh from Korea, Silver medallist with 684.5 points (584+100.5), and KIM Jong Su from the People’s Republic of Korea, Bronze medallist with 683.0 points (584+99.0). The two athletes, who had started tied with the same qualification points, fought head to head right to the end, finishing on the podium side by side. They had been competing also in the Olympic final of Athens 2004, where they had finished in fifth and eighth place respectively.
The final round was concluded by a shoot-off for the fourth place between two American shooter, the well known World Cup multi-medallist Jason Turner, and the surprising Brian Beaman, tied with the score of 682.0 points . Beaman, who lost the shoot-off 10.3 to 10.5, had never competed in a major final round before “This is the best place to start doing finals, the Games! It has been an incredible day, a little bit stressing maybe, but I could not ask any better!”