Tokyo: Russian markswoman Vitalina Batsarashkina won the women’s 10m air pistol gold at the Tokyo Olympics with an Olympic record of 240.3 points here on Sunday.
“I did not set a goal to win or to get into the top three or even into the final. I just set the goal to shoot like I can, to show everything that I can,” the Rio silver medalist confessed.
Veteran Antoaneta Kostadinova of Bulgaria, who held a 0.9-point advantage before the two final shots, had to settle for a silver, scoring a sub-par 9.0 points in her last shot.
“This is the first medal for Bulgaria shooting since 2004 and I’m thrilled that I’m the person to take it finally,” said the 35-year-old. “The emotions are very, very big. They’re everywhere, inside, outside.”
China’s Jiang Ranxin, who was ranked first in the qualification, bagged the bronze in her Olympic debut with 218.0 points.
She will be joining four-time Olympian Pang Wei, who also took a bronze in his individual event on Saturday, in the 10m mixed team competition.
Twenty-year-old Jiang is 15 years younger than her pair Pang, gold medalist at Beijing 2008.
“I call him ‘uncle,’ he calls me ‘little niece.’ Between him and me, this is a very good way to become closer,” she said.
