The biggest threat to anybody’s medal hopes in shooting disciplines is not the exceptional talent of the Chinese. It is, instead, perspiration.
China’s glory in the 10m mixed air rifle team event was as straightforward as one could anticipate for the world champions and pre-competition favourites, Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao. Here was the rarest of things; a Chinese Olympic success apparently free from the whiff of controversy.
At 11.22am on Saturday, the first gold medal of the Games was sealed. One down, 328 to go. South Korea’s Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun were nudged into the silver medal position despite a late rally.
Sheng kisses his rifle before he shoots. Huang appears in some kind of trance before pulling the trigger. Handily, the pair are completely unmoved by external factors.
There are rather a few of them here on the outskirts of Chateauroux. This military base feels so far removed from the Champs-Élysées and Parisian stadiums. Which it is; the Eiffel Tower sits 250km away from where Huang delivered the crucial shot. The diaspora of the shooters. It felt bizarre the event organisers determined gold would first be awarded in this distant annex. A brass band played outside, the French sports minister took in the competition but there was precious little sense of occasion.
The venue itself is steamy, muggy, uncomfortable. While that can be handled by spectators, it is tricky for athletes who have to compete in ludicrous leather suits. No wonder so many of them walk uneasily. Perhaps this explains the muted celebrations of the Chinese team; cold shower beats gold medal.
“It is definitely a thing,” said Team GB’s Seonaid McIntosh. “This sounds kind of gross but once you are soaking, you don’t really feel it any more. But it is hard when you have sweat running down your face.
“It is not completely normal for it to be this warm but it is also not outwith the bounds of possibility. It has happened before. It is hard when it is this hot. You have a headband on, take that off because it is too hot then you have sweat dripping into your eyes so you can’t see.” With a rifle in your hand, this feels problematic.
McIntosh and Mike Bargeron had failed to progress to the gold or bronze medal matches but there was no sense of excuse-making after finishing 26th out of 28 teams. Both were upbeat. “The 10m mixed was always going to be a warm-up for us,” said Bargeron. “It is not a speciality for either of us. We planned it out weeks ago. So it was nice to get the nerves out, feel the crowd, feel the atmosphere and the heat as well. It was really great.”
Germany earned their bronze medal meeting with Kazakhstan by one-tenth of a millimetre. Talk about tiny margins. With 16 points the target for victory, the Kazakhstan team of Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev enjoyed a fast start but were hauled back by Germany’s Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich. With Le in particular excelling, Kazakhstan established another lead, this time 11-5. At 10.45am, Satpayev saw Kazakhstan across the line 17-5, for the first medal of the Games. It is their first in shooting since 1996.
In the big one, China raced into a 6-2 lead after four rounds. Sheng’s accuracy was exceptional. Two Chinese shots, each earning 10.6 values – the highest possible is 10.9 – in the ninth round were key. At this point, China were ahead 12-6. They needed 14 rounds to secure gold, 16-12. South Korea had threatened an upset by recovering valiantly from 14-8 to 14-12 behind.
“This medal is the culmination of a lot of practise,” said Haung, who is still only 17. “It also means a new start.”
Bargeron labelled Chinese ability in this sphere as “insane”. They also have shooting stars who can handle the distinct heat of French battle.
