Gold medalist China's Yi Siling (C) raises her hands in celebration as silver medalist Poland's Sylwia Bogacka walks on and bronze medalist China's Yu Dan (L) waves at the victory ceremony after the women's 10m air rifle final at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich Saturday. — Reuters LONDON – China's world No. 1 Yi Siling won the first gold of the London Olympics in the women's 10m air rifle competition at London's Royal Artillery Barracks Saturday. Saturday also witnessed the first failed drugs test of the Games after Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku was suspended for taking the banned steroid stanozolol – the same drug that cost Canada's Ben Johnson his 100m athletics gold at the 1988 Seoul Games. In a tense contest watched by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, Poland's Sylwia Bogacka took silver after a fierce battle for the top spot while Yu Dan of China clinched bronze. Yi, 23, who won the title at the 2010 world championships in Munich, had a total winning score of 502.9, 0.7 points ahead of Bogacka, on 502.2. Yu finished with 501.5. Defending Olympic champion Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic finished fourth. Yi, who was well off her own world record of 505.6, said it felt good to be the first gold medal winner of the 2012 Games. Later, Jin Jong-oh survived a mid-final wobble to claim victory in the men's 10-meter air pistol to give South Korea its first gold medal of the London Olympics. Jin finished with a score of 688.2 after his 10 shots in the eight-man final with Italy's Luca Tesconi winning silver with 685.8 and Serbia's Andrija Zlatic taking bronze on 685.2. After coming through both nerve-wracking stages, the South Korean, who will defend his Beijing Games 50-meter pistol title in London, threw both fists into the air in relief. China's defending champion Pang Wei finished a disappointing fourth.
Italy bags archery gold Italy beat the United States by a single point on the last arrow of a nailbiting men's team archery final to win the gold medal Saturday. Needing a perfect 10 with his last shot, Michele Frangilli, shooting with Marco Galiazzo and Mauro Nespoli, hit the center of the target to give Italy a 219-218 win at Lord's Cricket Ground. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Americans, who had defeated defending champion South Korea in the semifinal. The Koreans had to settle for the bronze medal after beating Mexico in the playoff.
Di Francesca wins gold in foil Elisa Di Francisca won an Olympic gold medal in fencing's individual foil Saturday, beating Arianna Errigo 12-11 in extra time of an all-Italian final. Di Francisca, who was the 2010 world champion, upset top-ranked Nam Hyun-Hee of Korea by the same score in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Errigo beat three-time defending champion Valentina Vezzali 15-12, denying her Italian teammate a change to become the first female athlete to win individual gold at four consecutive Olympics. Vezzali won a tense battle for bronze 13-12 against Nam.
Wang grabs w-lifting gold Wang Mingjuan of China secured the first weightlifting gold, winning the women's 48-kg title Saturday with a total weight of 205 kgs. Japan's Hiromi Miyake finished second and Ryang Chun Hwa of North Korea got the bronze. Germany sets the pace in regatta Germany set the pace in the blue-ribbon men's eight Saturday and New Zealand's men's pair had a world-best time as the Olympic rowing regatta got off to a fast start in glorious sunshine.— Agencies
