First Gold In Beijing Olympics 2008

Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic won the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games in the10 m air rifle shooting event. IOC President Jacques Rogge handed over the medal, with the silver being awarded to Lioubov Galkina of Russia and the bronze medal to Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia . Shooting has enriched Olympic history with many extraordinary athletes and stories.

The older, the better
Shooting is one of the original sports of the modern Olympic Games. In the early days, the rapid-fire pistol event was contested with duelling pistols, the target was the silhouette of a human dummy dressed in a frock-coat and the bull’s eye was the middle of the thorax. In 1908, Ireland’s Colonel Joshua “Jerry” Millner won the free rifle event at the age of 61, and he is still the oldest winner of an individual Olympic event in any sport. Twelve years later in Antwerp, in the Running Deer double shot team event, 72-year-old Oscar Swahn of Sweden became not only the oldest ever Olympic competitor but also, with a silver, the oldest medallist.