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Chinese shooter wins first gold of Tokyo Olympics as storm threat looms

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John WEAVER, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/07/23/olympics-2020-sho-w-ar60w-fnl.jpg"/><figcaption>Yang Qian of China in action REUTERS/Ann Wang</figcaption></figure></div><p>Chinese shooter Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday as the coronavirus-hit Games braced for a potentially disruptive tropical storm heading towards the Japanese capital.</p><p>Yang snatched a dramatic last-shot victory from Russia&#x27;s Anastasiia Galashina in the women&#x27;s 10-metre air rifle as attention switched from the troubled build-up to the event to the sporting action.</p><p>Elsewhere on the first full day of competition, Japanese gymnastics star Kohei Uchimura crashed out of the horizontal bars competition.</p><p>Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar headlined a star-studded peloton in the men&#x27;s cycling road race and hot favourite Novak Djokovic prepared to launch his bid for Olympic glory.</p><p>Games chiefs are desperate for sport to take centre stage after the coronavirus pandemic forced a one-year postponement and dogged the lead-up to the Games.</p><p>But Covid-19 has cast a fresh shadow, forcing German cyclist Simon Geschke out of the road race while Dutch rower Finn Florijn has also tested positive.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/24/21/olympics-taekwondo-barbosa-south-korea">Olympics: Kurt Barbosa falls to superior Korean opponent in taekwondo</a></li></ul><p>Seventeen new Games-related cases were announced on Saturday, taking the total number to 123, of which 12 are athletes. </p><p>Now Games chiefs have another threat to contend with as Tropical Storm Nepartak headed towards Tokyo, with the weather agency saying it was due to arrive on Tuesday.</p><p>As a &quot;protective measure&quot; organisers have brought forward to this weekend rowing events that had been been scheduled for Monday and said they were following the track of the storm.</p><p>&quot;Unlike an earthquake, we&#x27;re able to predict the path of a typhoon so we&#x27;re able to prepare in advance,&quot; said Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya.</p><p><strong>- Olympic record -</strong><br/>China&#x27;s Yang started the Olympic gold rush by winning the women&#x27;s 10-metre air rifle with a Games record score of 251.8, edging ahead of Galashina on 251.1 and Switzerland&#x27;s Nina Christen on 230.6.</p><p>Galashina had looked poised to claim the title heading into the last shot, but stumbled with 8.9 on her final effort to allow Yang to seal victory.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s the 100th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party,&quot; she said. &quot; I&#x27;m so happy that this golden medal is a gift to my country. I&#x27;m so proud.&quot;</p><p>There was more joy for China, with Hou Zhihui taking gold in the women&#x27;s 49kg weightlifting event with an Olympic record total of 210 kilograms.</p><p>But there was agony for Japan when Uchimura -- all-around Olympic gymnastics champion in 2012 and 2016 and a superstar in Japan -- was eliminated from the horizontal bars competition and did not compete in the parallel bars.</p><p><strong>- Golden Slam -</strong><br/>Djokovic had cast doubt over whether he would participate at Tokyo because of the strict virus protocols and lack of crowds, but the possibility of the Golden Slam -- winning all four majors and the Olympics in the same year -- proved impossible to resist.</p><p>The Serbian world number one will face Bolivia&#x27;s Hugo Dellien in the opening round of a tournament missing half the men&#x27;s top 10 players, including 2008 Olympic champion Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.</p><p>The favourite and 2008 bronze medallist is hoping to emulate Steffi Graf&#x27;s 1988 feat of winning the Golden Slam after already snapping up the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon this year.</p><p>Women&#x27;s world number one Ashleigh Barty will make her Olympic debut for Australia alongside her compatriot Storm Sanders in the doubles.</p><p>Naomi Osaka, fresh from her starring role lighting the Olympic cauldron in Friday&#x27;s opening ceremony, starts her bid to win gold for Japan on Sunday.</p><p>Slovenia&#x27;s Pogacar, who won a second consecutive Tour de France title this month, headlined a stellar road race field including 2016 champion Greg Van Avermaet and his Belgian team-mates Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert.</p><p>The demanding 234-kilometre (145-mile) route climaxes at the Fuji International Speedway racing circuit, with riders facing five climbs around Mount Fuji, the highest point in Japan at an altitude of 3,776 metres (12,388 feet).</p><p>Swimming begins later with heats in the men&#x27;s 400m individual medley, where Japan&#x27;s Daiya Seto is the favourite, before Sweden&#x27;s reigning champion Sarah Sjostrom, still recovering from a fractured right elbow, lines up in the women&#x27;s 100m butterfly.</p><p>Britain&#x27;s Olympic and world champion Adam Peaty is the one to watch in the men&#x27;s 100m breaststroke, while Hungarian great Katinka Hosszu starts her fifth Games in the women&#x27;s 400m medley.</p><p>The US women&#x27;s football team and former world player of the year Megan Rapinoe will look to bounce back from a humbling 3-0 loss to Sweden when they take on New Zealand.</p><div><strong>jw</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1733833" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div><em>For breaking news and latest developments on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, visit <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics">https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics</a> </em></div>

<p>Chinese shooter Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday as the coronavirus-hit Games braced for a potentially disruptive tropical storm heading towards the Japanese capital.<br /> </p>

Chinese shooter Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday as the coronavirus-hit Games braced for a potentially disruptive tropical storm heading towards the Japanese capital.

Chinese shooter wins first gold of Tokyo Olympics as storm threat looms

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Chinese shooter wins first gold of Tokyo Olympics as storm threat looms

John WEAVER,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jul 24, 2021 04:46 PM PHT

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Yang Qian

Tokyo Olympics

Storm

Shooting

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