Agencies
Rio de Janeiro, August 6: American teenager Virginia Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games here Saturday, holding her nerve against two Chinese Olympic champions to clinch the women’s 10m air rifle event.
The 19-year-old American edged out China’s Du Li (gold in Athens in 2004), with an Olympic-record score of 208. Defending Olympic champion Yi Siling, also of China, took the bronze medal. Thrasher was awarded the first gold of the Games by (IOC) president Thomas Bach.
Meanwhile Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul were way off the mark in the qualifications, finishing way behind the leaders to bow out of the competition. Chandela shot an overall 411.6 points to finish 34th out of 51 competitors while Paul finished further down in 47th place with a total score of 403.
The expectations for a better show from the Indian duo of Chandela and Paul, who had won the gold and silver in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, were dashed as they were found wanting in a top class field.
The 23-year-old Chandela had secured an Olympic berth for her country by finishing third in the 10m Air Rifle in the 2015 ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea. Paul had won an Olympic quota for India with a silver in the Asian Olympic Qualifying Competition in January. But on a day when it mattered the most, both failed.
