Chinese markswoman Guo Wenjun smashed Olympic record in women's 10-meter air pistol with 492.3 points, winning China the second shooting gold medal at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall on Sunday morning.
Guo, a 24-year-old from the northwestern Shaanxi Province, went into the finals ranked second among eight finalists with 390 points. In front of her was Russian shooter Natalia Paderina, who bettered the Olympic record in preliminary of the event with 391 points.
In the first shot, both shooters scored 10.0 points.
But Paderina, 33, seemed to be out of gear in the second shot and just collected 8.5 points, two points lower than her Chinese rival.
The following shots saw Guo keeping her momentum to maintain the leading position, whereas Paderina lost her sharpness and scored her final four shots below 10.
The smiling Chinese girl waved to spectators after the final, while excited people cheered and cried out her name.
Paderina, with 489.1 points, settled for a silver.
The bronze medal was won by Nino Salukvadze from Georgia with 487.4 points.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2008)