Yi gunning for 1st Games gold
Print Edition
CHINESE sharp shooter Yi Siling has her sights set on securing the first gold of the Rio 2016 Games today only hours after the lighting of the Olympic flame.
The 27-year-old, known as ‘shooting beauty’, defends her 10-meter air rifle title from London 2012 at the Olympic shooting center in Deodoro.
Yi is a worthy favorite to do the double in this first of 15 titles in play over nine days of tense targeting in the military camp outside Rio.
Yi came close to retiring her rifle in 2004 as her family was unable to come up with the cash to cover the costs for her training, but her coach stepped in, promising financial support.
His generosity has paid handsome dividends, with the latest instalment on his investment set to be realized in Brazil.
Among those standing in the way of the world record holder’s path to the top of the podium are Andrea Arsovic, the world No. 1, and fellow Serb, Ivana Maksimovic.
For Maksimovic this will be an unforgettable 24 hours, as she was chosen to carry Serbia’s flag during the opening ceremony at the Maracana stadium.
“Carrying the flag is such an honor for me. Novak Djokovic was carrying it in London. Everybody wants to carry the flag but now this is happening to me.”
Maksimovic, who took bronze in the 50m rifle in London, is being spurred on by the need to uphold family honor at the Olympics. “I want to be as great as my dad (coach Goran Maksimovic, a gold medalist at Seoul 1988) is and I started to live with that.”
Among the big names to watch out for at Deodoro none come bigger than Kimberley Rhode. The American is gunning for a sixth consecutive individual Olympic medal, only ever achieved by Italian luger Armin Zoeggeler.
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