LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine has claimed two bronze medals so far in the London 2012 Olympics. Yuliya Kalina won the bronze in the women's 58kg weightlifting competition while Olena Kostevych took the third-place medal in the women's 10 metre air pistol.
In the weightlifting compeition, China‘s Li Xueying won the gold medal in the women’s weightlifting 58kg competition and Thailand‘s Pimsiri Sirikaew won the silver, ahead of Ukraine’s Kalina.
In the 10 metro air pistol event, China‘s Guo Wenjun produced a near-perfect last shot to claim gold in the women’s 10 metre air pistol, retaining her Olympic title in a topsy-turvy final of nerve-jangling shooting on Sunday.The 25-year-old Frenchwoman was only able to muster a disappointing 8.8 with her final effort.
Guo finished with 488.1 points, with France‘s Celine Goberville claiming silver in a shootoff with Ukraine‘s Kostevych after both finished on 486.6.
Kostevych, the 2004 Athens Games gold medallist, then took advantage after the first round with a 10.1 and she shared the lead with Guo and Goberville after the second.
Guo and Goberville then exchanged the lead, with the Chinese struggling to replicate the Frenchwoman’s consistency.
Goberville reeled off five scores of 10.1 or better to take a 0.5 point advantage into the final round, only to produce her worst shot of the day, an 8.8, to surrender the lead.
“The last shot – it was a mistake, I cannot explain it,” Goberville said after winning France‘s first medal of theLondon Games.
“I was already very stressed… I had difficulty realising where I was, what was happening.
“After the last shot I was pretty disappointed but I knew I had a medal. I was disappointed that I had gone from first to second with my last shot but then I had to concentrate on the shootoff.”
Guo’s victory followed countrywoman Yi Siling’s triumph on Saturday when she won the first gold of the Games in the 10m air rifle as China made a strong start to London 2012.
As Guo celebrated her victory with her coaches, the crowd were hushed before Goberville struck a 10.6 in the shootoff to trump Kostevych‘s 9.7 and seal silver.
The women’s skeet final on the outdoor range was due to take place at 1300 GMT despite rain, with organisers saying the event would not be postponed unless there was a threat of thunder and lightning.
Here is a link to Kalina’s profile on the official London 2012 Olympics website.
Here is a link to Kostevych’s profile.
(Additional reporting by Paul Majendie. Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
