Du Li of China finally struck gold in her home Olympics yesterday, six days after she had left millions disappointed by failing to win the inaugural event of the Games.
Li, a 26-year-old from Shandong Province, had been one of the most talked about athletes ahead of the Games as the favorite to win the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics last Saturday.
But Li lost her nerve and finished fifth in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event, the honor of aoyun shoujin — first Olympic gold — going to Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic.
PHOTO: AP
She made amends yesterday by taking the 50m Rifle Three Positions title with a new Games record, leaving both Emmons and defending champion Lioubov Galkina of Russia trailing far behind.
Li finished with 690.3 points to shatter by a fair margin the previous Olympic record of 688.4 set by Galkina in Athens four years ago.
In a close finish for the remaining spots, Emmons took the silver just 0.1 points ahead of bronze medalist Eglis Yaima Cruz of Cuba, who herself was 0.2 points in front of fourth-placed Galkina.
Later yesterday, Italy’s Chiara Cainero won a three-way sudden death shoot-out in pouring rain to take the gold medal in skeet shooting.
Cainero hit both her targets despite conditions more suited for duck hunting. American Kimberly Rhode then clinched the silver medal after a two-way shoot-off against Germany’s Christine Brinker, who collected bronze.
Cainero, eighth in Athens four years ago, said the downpour that left the 2,000 spectators and scores of journalists drenched had not bothered her at all. It rained so hard that the medals ceremony had to be moved indoors.
“It was actually OK out there,” the 30-year-old told reporters when asked about the worsening conditions. “It’s an Olympic medal and I’m very happy.”
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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