China, Japan and South Korea have won their first gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Zhang Mengxue won the 10-metre shooting gold, Kosuke Hagino won the 400m swimming gold and Kim Woo-jin, Ku Bon-chan and Lee Seung-yun won the archery gold.
First-time Olympian Zhang Mengxue won China’s first gold medal by winning the women’s 10-metre air pistol shooting event on Sunday. The 25 year old won with a final score of 199.4 points in 20 shots, defeating Russia’s 19 year old Vitalina Batsarashikina who won the silver medal with a score of 197.1
Zhang joint the Chinese olympic team two years ago.
“I was pretty calm for the final actually, because the qualification was a bit tough for me,” said Zhang.
On Saturday, Kasouke Hagino won the men’s 400-meter individual medley, giving Japan its first gold medal. The 21 year old won with a time of 4 minutes and 6.05 seconds, whilst his rival and two time world champion Daiya Seto, finished third with a time of 4:09.71.
“I swam for my coach [Norimasa] Hirai, so I could hang my gold medal around his neck,” Hagino said. “Kalisz made me nervous in the last 50 meters. I’m glad I could still win this tight race.”
Trio Kim Woo-jin, Ku Bon-chan and Lee Seung-yun achieved a 6-0 win, defeating the United States who ended the South Koreans’ run of three titles in the London semi-finals. Kim also managed to score a 72-arrow world record,
“I’ve been waiting for this moment, to get gold, for four years… We trusted each other, and it happened. It just happened.”
