Woman shooter Katerina - first Gold Medallist

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from China

BEIJING, China (Aug. 9) - Woman shooter Katerina Emmons of Czech Republic became the first gold medallist of the XX1Xth Olympic Games while Sri Lankan shooter Edirisinghe Senanayake finished a poor 48th in men's 10m air pistol event on the opening day of the competition proper in Beijing on Saturday.

Competing in men's 10m Air pistol qualifying round, Senanayake painted a poor picture to finish last amongst the 48 shooters who took part. Senanayake had breaks of 91, 94, 93, 91, 94, 98 to total 561 points, which was far behind his personal best.

In contrast, China's Wei Pang, who went on to win the gold medal, had an impressive score of 586 in the first round with his six rounds of firing reading 97, 98, 100, 96, 97, 98. Senanayake said he came across pressure problems in his pistol. "I encountered a pressure problem who was earlier rectified. Though the pistol was checked and was certified, the same defect developed when I fired this morning," Senanayake said after his event.

He said there wasn't sufficient time for him to get use to the new pistol he got and continued to fire from the old pistol. "I am not complaining but that is what exactly happened. Anyway this is not my pet event and will be fully concentrating on men's 50m event scheduled for Monday," the Lankan shooter added.

He admitted he was under pressure when competing at a mega event such as the Olympics and against the cream of world class shooters. "But I am in a better shape to do well in the 50m event," a determined Senanayake said.

The ultimate winner in this event - the men's 10 air pistol, was young Chinese shooter Pang Wei who stormed home to bag the gold medal with a final score of 688.2. The 22-year-old Beijing lad was unthreatened in the final round and ended up winning by the wide margin of 3.7 points. Korean Jin Jong-oh won the silver medal with a final score of 684.5.

The battle for the bronze medal was a tightly contested affair between Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States' Jason Turner. Kim nailed the bronze medal with a strong finish, shooting 10.3 and 10.0 for his last two shots, which gave him a final score of 683.0. Turner's last two shots were poor and he finished in equal fourth place with his compatriot Brian Beaman at the end of the final round.

Both men shot a final score of 682.0. Turner was officially awarded fourth place after wining a shoot-off between the two Americans, shooting 10.5 to Beaman's 10.3. Pang shot a score of 586 in the qualification round, which was two points higher than the next best score, shot by both Jin and Kim. Incidentally, Pang's coach Wang Yifu, was the gold medallist in the event at the last Olympic Games.

Earlier in the day Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic won the first gold of the Beijing Olympic Games when she came first in women's 10m Air Rifle. The 24-year-old Czech lass was in scintillating form, breaking Olympic records in both the qualification and final rounds.

In the qualification round, Emmons shot a perfect 400, which equalled the World Record and set a new Olympic Record. The previous Olympic Record was 399. Then in the final round, Emmons shot 103.5, giving her a final score of 503.5, which eclipsed the previous record of 502.0 set by China's Du Li at Athens 2004.

Today's gold is only Emmons' second Olympic medal, following her bronze at Athens 2004 in the same event. She never looked threatened throughout the event, despite solid shooting performances by silver medallist Lioubov Galkina of Russia and bronze medallist Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia, who shot final scores of 502.1 and 500.9 respectively.

The day was full of disappointment for Athens 2004 gold medallist Du Li of China and World No. 1 Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany. Du finished fifth after shooting poorly in the final, finishing with a total score of 499.6. Pfeilschifter just missed out on making the final round. The United States' Jamie Beyerle finished fourth after performing well in the final, shooting a total score of 499.8.

There was another gold for China as Chen Xiexia performed with the confidence of a champion throughout the women's 48 kilogram weightlifting competition, successfully completing all her attempts for a gold medal finish with 95kg in the Snatch and 117kg in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 212kg, a new Olympic Record. Chen also set a new Olympic mark in the Clean and Jerk with 117kg. China's Chen adds this Olympic gold medal to her collection of gold medals from the 2007 World Championships and 2007 Asian championships.

Turkey's Sibel Ozkan won the silver medal with 88kg in the Snatch and a successful 111kg in the Clean and Jerk for a 199kg total. Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei is the bronze winner, with 84kg in the Snatch and 112kg in the Clean and Jerk for a 196kg total finish.

Defending gold medallist Nurcan Taylan of Turkey, the previous Olympic Record-holder who lifted a total 210kg in Athens, bombed-out in the Snatch and was subsequently knocked out of competition. She kissed the left side weight discs on her barbell before waving to the crowd on the way out.

Taylan wasn't the only competitor to bomb-out in the Snatch. Italy's Genny Caterina Pagliaro, the youngest competitor in this weight class at 19-years old, didn't finish, nor did Pramsiri Bunphithak of Thailand, the 2004 Athens silver medallist.

When Chen Wei-Ling collapsed at the last second in her final attempt of 115kg and ended with a 196kg total, Ozkan began to tear up backstage over the exciting realization that she would be the silver medallist.

The crowd was alive again for China's Chen Xiexia, who started her Clean and Jerk attempt at 113kg, one kilogram above the last successful attempt of her competitors. Her completion of this first attempt made it beyond a doubt that she would be the gold medallist. She followed with 115kg and 117kg in her next two attempts, and clinched the gold with a 212kg total.

While Chen Xiexia set a new Olympic Record, she did not break her own personal best of 214kg in the total, nor any World Records. She still holds the Clean and Jerk World Record of 120kg, and her compatriot Yang Lian has the World Record in the Snatch with 98kg and the total with 217kg. China now holds 14 of 20 Olympic records in Women's Weightlifting.

Meanwhile, the IOC President Jacques Rogge called the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics a "spectacular" and "unforgettable," and said he is looking forward to exciting competitions in the next 16 days.

The 204 delegations marched into "the beautiful new National Stadium in the age-old tradition of the Games" and they would "carry this memory with them forever," commented Rogge after the ceremony was over.

"This iconic stadium is one of the world's new wonders. It was a fitting setting for an amazing Opening Ceremony, I look forward to an equally exciting and unforgettable 16 days," he added.