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Gold medal winner China's Yang Qian celebrates on the podium after winning the women's 10m air rifle final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Asaka Shooting Range in the Nerima district of Tokyo on July 24, 2021. Photo: AFPIce-cold Chinese shooter Yang Qian claimed the first gold of the Tokyo Games on Saturday, keeping her cool while Russian Anastasiia Galashina lost hers in a dramatic finale.
Galashina had looked poised to claim gold heading into the last shot but stumbled with 8.9 on her final effort to allow Yang to seal victory. Yang looked the picture of serenity as she waited with eyes closed between shots, but she still had to overcome nerves to close out the win with an Olympic record score of 251.8.“Throughout the competition, I kept adjusting my mentality, trying to calm my nerves. I think I’m good at that.”Galashina led for most of the final and stood on the brink of glory until she fluffed her lines with her final shot.“I was thinking about what I had to do, but maybe my nervousness took over.
The event took place the morning after the Olympics opened in a nearly empty stadium, following an unprecedented postponement and a build-up marred by scandal and controversy.