China strikes gold in men's 10m air rifle
China's Sheng Lihao claimed the Paris Olympic title in the men's 10m air rifle event on Monday, adding to his victory in the 10m air rifle mixed team event along with Huang Yuting. Sheng, the silver medalist from Tokyo, set an Olympic record with a score of 252.2 points at the Chateauroux Shooting Center. "I'm quite satisfied with my performance at the Paris Olympics. As you could see, I encountered some difficulties during the competitions, but I managed to hold myself together and complete them," Sheng said. Victor Lindgren of Sweden claimed silver with 251.4 points. He came from behind to eliminate Miran Maricic of Croatia by 0.5 points through the second shot of the penultimate series, scoring 10.6 to Maricic's 9.9. Despite finishing first in Sunday's qualification round, the 19-year-old Sheng was not at his best, scoring 631.7 points, which is 6.2 points lower than his own world record.  But he responded with a strong start in the final and dominated after three series in the elimination stage.  Two perfect 10.9 shots gave him a 2-point advantage over second-placed Arjun Babuta of India. Although Sheng's lead diminished to 0.6 points before the final series against Lindgren due to two sub-10 shots, he managed a 10.5 and a 10.6 to secure victory. This is the third shooting gold for China at Paris 2024 from five events, and the country's fifth gold overall. (Xinhua)