The time has come: the first Gold medal of the 2012 London Olympics will eb assigned at the Royal Artillery Barracks shooting venue, at the 10m Air Rifle Women event.
The first Olympic competition has already started, with over 50 shooters competing in the qualification hall. The top-8 will then advance to the final match – starting at 11AM - where 10 shots will decide the winner of the very first Gold medal of the London 2012 Games.
The 2010 ISSF World Champion Yi Siling is targeting the Gold medal, and leads the qualifications after the first shots. She’s young (23), she is ranked 1st in the world in this event, and she was the first women to qualify for the Games in 2010, winning an Olympic Quota at the ISSF World Championship in Munich. Numbers seems to be on her side: out of 15 ISSF competitions she participated in (during the last 4 years), she made it to 12 finals, finishing 9 times with a medal around her neck. Yi turned to be the strongest shooter of 2011 by winning the ISSF World Cup Final in Wroclaw, and he also won this year’s ISSF World Cup Stage in Munich, finishing in second in London at the pre-Olympic test event. She’s good and she knows it, as she admitted herself: “I am so happy with my scores, I feel so good. I hope I make the Olympic team, I want to go London to win the 10m Air Rifle Women final. That’s the dream I have, and I can achieve it!” Who could such defeat such a strong-minded athlete?
Olympic champion Katerina EMMONS (CZE) is looking for back-to-back titles. The Czech also stood on the podium at Athens 2004, where she took bronze in the event. Her husband, Matthew EMMONS (USA), is also a shooter and competes as a gold medal contender in the men's rifle events. Emmons took some time off from shooting after the last Olympics, as she married American Olympic Champ Matt Emmons and later on gave birth to Julia, their daughter. But during the last season she made a comeback, recording one of the best personal scores of the last Olympic cycle With an equalled world record of 400 points out of 400, and an outstanding final of 105.9 points, she matched Yi Siling, and climbed back to the World Rankings Top 3.
Facing the two top-ranked shooters, will be Croatia’s 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist Snjezana Pejcic, one of the most consistent international shooters with 18 participations in international ISSF events during the last Olympic cycles and four podium placements. However, Italy’s Petra Zublasing, who finished in the spotlights more than once in the last Olympic cycle, could yet offer us a surprise. Or the USA’s best 10m Air Rifle Women shooters, Jamie Lynn Gray (we mentioned her in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women preview) and Sarah Scherer, a 21-year old first-time Olympian who ranks 9th in the world after winning last year’s ISSF World Cup Stage in Changwon, Korea.
Germany decided to send world No.7 Jessica MAGER and No.20 Beate GAUSS instead of their experienced shooter, No.2 Sonja PFEILSCHIFTER. MAGER is two-times junior European champion (2008 and 2007).
Bahya Mansour AL HAMAD (QAT) will make history as part of the first group of Qatari women to compete at an Olympic Games. Her dream came true with a wild card entry.
Undoubtedly, the 10m Air Rifle Women event will be an open match, with a thrilling final and a new champions waiting to be discovered.