| And the Beijing Games' 1st gold goes to... |
| 13:35, July 25, 2008 |
With only two weeks to go before the Olympics Opening Ceremony, the suspense over who will win the first Olympic medal and in which event has gripped athletes, coaches and fans alike, prompting wild predictions and speculation.
"There was a fortune-telling show on Hong Kong TV predicting that shooting will take the first gold medal," said Ma Wenguang, a senior official for China's weightlifting team.
"But I just took it as a good laugh. The first gold could go to either shooting or weightlifting," Ma told a group of Chinese reporters.
Chinese officials are determined to make sure China, as the host country, wins the first gold of the Games. The women's 10m air rifle - which includes two Chinese medal favorites - has its final scheduled at 10:30 am on Aug 9 and should end about 20 minutes later.
If all goes as planned, either reigning gold medalist shooter Du Li or world champion Zhao Yinghui will raise 2008's first gold at the Beijing Shooting Range.
But in the Olympics there are no guarantees, and rumor has it that Games organizers have an alternative plan to ensure the first gold slips into China's pocket.
The woman's 48kg weightlifting final is scheduled to conclude at 11:40 am. It is an event in which China is virtually assured of a gold medal.
But if Du and Zhao are too far behind in points going into the final, the rumor says, organizers will delay the last ten shots of the final while the weightlifting final goes on as planned so China can secure the gold.
'Groundless' rumor
But on Wednesday, China Youth Daily quoted an official in charge of scheduling as saying the rumor was "groundless".
"If you look at the schedule, both events have a chance," the unnamed official said. "When we composed the schedule, we did consider which event would award the first gold medal. But we didn't designate any specific event to be the first."
China's first-ever Olympic gold medal also happened to be the first gold awarded at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, won by Xu Haifeng in the individual free pistol 60 shots. China also won the first gold of a Games 20 years later when Du Li came back on her last shot to snatch gold in the women's 10m air rifle in Athens.
But the shooting team is playing down the huge expectations of winning the first Olympic gold on home soil, and shooting officials like Gao Zhidan have flatly rejected the media's hype of the issue.
The Chinese weightlifting team thinks China will have no problem winning the first gold of the Games, regardless of the event. Ma Wenguang said it all depends on the athletes.
"Regardless of the predictions, it still depends on how the athletes perform," Ma said. "If it should be yours, then it will be."
Ma's main concern at the moment is choosing which athletes to take to Beijing. No one is sure yet which weightlifters will represent China in the final on Aug 9. Out of world record holder Yang Lian and world champions Chen Xiexia and Wang Mingjuan, only one will be listed on China's final Olympic list, which will be released today.
"Things are still not quite certain at the moment," Ma said.
"We simply have too many talented athletes to choose from. It's our sweet little problem."
Source:China Daily/Agencies
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