Paris, France, July 27, 2024: China led an Asian 1-2-3 in the Paris 2024 10m air rifle mixed team competition on the first morning of shooting at Chateuroux on Saturday.
China’s Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting beat Keum Jihyeon and Park Hajun of Korea 16-12 in the final, while Kazakhstan defeated Germany 17-5 to take bronze through Alexandre Le and Islam Satpayev.
With two points awarded for the winner of each round, China led 12-6 and then 14-8, only for Korea to close the gap to 14-12. China ended Korea’s comeback by taking the 16th round 21.5-21.1 to close the match at 16-12.
Sheng, 19, admitted he was not perturbed by Korea’s late challenge.
"I wasn’t paying too much attention to the score; I just needed to stabilize my mentality. I told myself I must do what I needed to do,” he said.
“During the competition we faced a lot of difficulties. I wasn’t great in qualifying but I was very aware of my situation, which prompted me to make adjustments.”
This was his second Olympics after Tokyo 2020 and he said the experience had helped him in the critical moments.
“The last Olympics was my first Games and, for me, it was very tense. The technical aspects were far from mature. Every game, every match, is a good opportunity to develop in my career.
“Winning the gold in this Games is the result of our hard effort but luck also plays a certain role. We will only get better from now.”
Regarding Korea’s late comeback, Huang, 17, added: “I was quite tense and telling myself I must focus on my movement and the competition to give myself positive energy. Perhaps on the surface we seemed calm but deep inside we were very nervous.
“This medal is the culmination of all the practice we have done over the last period. It also marks a new start. I must remind myself of my approaching 18th birthday.
“I’m very pleased to have won the first gold. At the end of last year and during winter training I was in a low mood. But I exerted a lot of effort to adjust my performance to face any pressure head on. I believe the best mentality is to accept whatever pressure is thrown at me."