China`s Yi Siling wins London Olympic Games` first gold medal

Yi Siling of China won the first gold medal of the 2012 London Olympic Games bagging a total of 502.9 points in the women`s 10m air rifle event here Saturday.

London: China's Yi Siling won the first gold medal of the London Olympics after shooting her way to glory in the women's 10-meter air rifle event here Saturday.

Yi shot consistently well on her way to a score of 502.9 to take gold at the Royal Artillery Barracks by 0.7 points from Polish athlete Sylwia Bogacka on 502.2. "Very exciting. Very happy. I'm very grateful to China. And to my mother and father who I love very much," Yi said. Bogacka had entered with an advantage after setting the highest score in qualifying and held the lead with three shots remaining in the final. Two comparatively low scores from Bogacka dropped her to third before she re-took second place from China's Yu Dan on a dramatic final shot. Bogacka said that the atmosphere was better than in Beijing four years ago. "Here the competition was much friendlier. People were smiling. It was much better than Beijing," she said. Yu Dan scored 501.5 to take bronze. Russia's Daria Vdovina had entered the final in a strong third position, but poor shooting early on destroyed her hopes of a medal, and she finished eighth and last. Heavily pregnant Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi earlier failed to make the final, finishing 34th in qualifying. IANS