Paris Olympics 2024: China's Xie Yu wins men's 10m air pistol gold

Xie Yu breaks China’s 16-year gold medal drought in men’s 10m air pistol.

China, winners of the opening day’s 10m rifle mixed team title, secured the second gold of the Paris Olympics 2024 shooting sport programme this morning as 24-year-old Xie Yu won the 10m air pistol men final at Chateauroux after seeing off the challenge of Italy’s Federico Maldini and Paolo Monna, who took respective silver and bronze.

Despite carrying China’s banner alone in the final after the failure of world champion Zhang Bowen to qualify, the 24-year-old Xie Yu earned gold in his first Games with admirable composure in a tense competition that looked for a long while as if it would be won by one of the two Italian athletes.

A fluctuating contest remained open until the last shot as the 23-year-old Maldini, who had reduced the gap to 0.4 after scoring 10.3 to Xie Yu’s 10.00 with his penultimate effort, registered a 9.5 that caused him to bow his head as supporters in the stands gave out a sigh.

It was Xie Yu’s to lose and he did not falter, registering a second successive 10.0 to finish 0.9 ahead of  Maldini, 240.9 to 240.0. The mask of concentration he had worn throughout the contest gave way to emotion as he blew out his cheeks with relief before waving and smiling to his jubilant compatriots in the stands.

“I’m really proud,” said Xie Yu, who is now scheduled to take part in the 10m air pistol mixed team, where qualification starts tomorrow.

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“I trained a lot this year to achieve this medal. When I played the single shot later the elimination series, after 12 shots, the emotions gradually condensed.  “I had good control over myself today. I woke up calm, without any stress. I was a little bit nervous but didn’t have any fear.

“If I hadn’t won, this may have been my biggest regret. It is very difficult to be selected for China for the Olympics, so to be able to stand here today, on this higher stage, is very significant for me.

”Reflecting on how he had led the competition until the late stages, Maldini, who is in the Italian Army, commented: “It was very tense. I tried to do something good on the last shot but it was really difficult.”

Asked whether he was nervous on the final deciding shot he replied:“I was nervous from one month ago! So I wear this medal with very much emotion.”

Monna commented: “I had good vibes since the beginning of the final. I felt everything would be going the right way, and we’d be on the podium, at least. In the end, I was successful.

“It’s certainly emotional and a very rare one because Federico and I are friends. He is really young and it’s his first Olympics so congratulations ‘Maldo’! This is the first time we’re on the podium together, and it is the most important one.”

Monna, 26, the world No.2 and European champion, had entered the knock-out stages leading on 104.4 from Maldini on 100.1 and Xie Yu on 99.2. After the fourth round Maldini moved ahead of his compatriot, 181.7 to 181.2, with Xie Yu on 180.9.

It was at this point, with the 19th and 20th shots of the final, that the balance tipped in the Chinese athlete’s favour as he scored 10.00 and 10.02 to take the lead on 201.1 as the pressure told on the Italian pair. Maldini, with 9.9 and 9.0, dropped to second on 200.6, and Monna, with 9.1 and 9.5, was third on 199.8.

With rounds 21 and 22 deciding the bronze-medal position, Xie Yu slipped a little with a 9.7 and Monna moved himself into silver position as he shot 10.5 to Maldini’s 9.4. But one shot later it was Maldini who went on to contest gold after he had recovered his equilibrium to score 10.2 while Monna was left shaking his head after recording an 8.3.

Fourth place went to the Republic of Korea’s 24-year-old Lee Wonho, who finished one place ahead of Germany’s 37-year-old Christian Reitz, Rio 2016 gold medallist in the 25m rapid fire pistol, who finished fifth in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Reitz went into the fourth knock-out round 0.2 ahead of Lee but was soon grimacing after scoring a 9.2, and a 9.4 did little to cheer him up. By that point Reitz’s 24-year-old compatriot Robin Walter, world No.1 and 2023 World Cup Final champion, had made his exit in sixth place. Despite a defiant final shot of 10.8 he remained 0.6 behind his team-mate.

Seventh place went to Serbia’s Tokyo 2020 and world silver medallist Damir Mikec, while Mongolia’s Davaakhuu Enkhtaivan was eighth. Monna shed tears on the podium in a medal ceremony in which ISSF President Luciano Rossi took part – but they seemed to be tears of joy.

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