When sharpshooter Du Li takes aim to win China’s first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, she knows one shot could make the difference between becoming hero or villain.
Li, a 26-year-old student from Shandong Province, won the 10m Air Rifle gold medal at Athens four years ago by a single shot ahead of Russia’s Lioubov Galkina.
She is now under so much pressure and scrutiny to deliver a second time on Saturday that she was forced to appeal to the public and media to “please don’t hype it up.”
PHOTO: AP
Li faces a close race with her country’s weightlifters to give China a roaring start towards their bid to surpass the US in the overall medal tally.
If Li wins, it will add another chapter to her country’s emotional bond with the sport. China’s first ever Olympic gold medal came in shooting through pistol king Xu Haifeng at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
China’s millions are awaiting aoyun shoujin — the first Olympic gold — as if it was a competition in its own right.
“It is going to be a very interesting competition,” China’s weightlifting chief Ma Wenguang said. “A bit of battle does exist, because the first gold medal means so much for our people.”
Li’s appeal to the public to calm down follows the experience of team-mate Zhao Yinghui, who was the gold medal favorite at Athens but crumbled under intense pressure and failed to reach the podium.
Li may be the reigning Olympic and world champion, but has struggled in recent months to raise prospects of a keen fight for gold at the Beijing Shooting Hall.
Her world record of 504.9 points was equaled in April by Czech Katerina Emmons before Germany’s Sonja Pfeilschifter bettered it by 0.1 at the Milan World Cup in June.
It prompted legendary Chinese coach Wang Yifu to say: “Pfeilschifter is better than anybody else, including Du.”
Li surprised Wang by adding the 50m Rifle 3 positions event to her shooting skills and beating Pfeilschifter to the gold at the World Cup in Beijing in April.
Li’s toughest rival in the 10m event will be Galkina, the 35-year-old Russian who renews her Athens battle with the Chinese following the birth of a son in November.
“Li is the best, so it will be good to push her on her home soil,” the Athens silver-medalist said. “I am not nervous because for me, every second is a bonus after my boy was born. I just want to enjoy the Olympics.”
If Li seeks inspiration, she need look no further than her coach Wang, China’s most experienced Olympian with six successive appearances between 1984 and 2004.
Wang won two Olympic golds, three silvers and one bronze over the years, but none was more dramatic than his second-placed finish in the 10m Air Pistol final at Atlanta in 1996.
Preparing for his last shot, Wang suddenly found his blood sugar levels dip and his legs began to wobble, but he still managed to fire before collapsing to the floor unconscious.
When he came around a few minutes later watched by his anxious wife Zhang Qiuping, a fellow shooter, Wang was told he had finished just 0.1 of a point behind eventual gold medallist Roberto di Donna of Italy.
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