24-year-old Olympic debutant Xie Yu emerges as gold medalist in the men's 10m air pistol at Paris 2024.
By sportswriters Wang Meng and Lin Deren
CHATEAUROUX, France, July 28 (Xinhua) -- After clinching gold in the men's 10m air pistol at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Xie Yu can finally afford to relax a little bit.
Competing in his first Olympics, the 24-year-old faced immense pressure. He finished sixth in the qualification round on Saturday and had to endure a grueling night before the final. Unlike previous Games, where the finals were held on the same day as the qualifiers, the Paris schedule placed the final on the following day, adding to the anticipation and stress.
"Last night was tough. I was so nervous that I couldn't fall asleep. I don't know how many hours I slept, but it felt like I had just fallen asleep when the alarm went off," Xie recalled.
In Sunday's final, Xie ranked third for most of the competition, trailing Italian shooters Federico Nilo Maldini and Paolo Monna. It wasn't until the fifth series in the elimination stage that he capitalized on two sub-10 shots from his Italian opponents, and overtook them to reach the first place. He maintained his momentum, holding a 0.4-point advantage before the final shot, and kept his composure to score a 10, while Maldini managed only 9.5.
"I think I had a stable performance today. I was nervous, but I did not panic. I managed to keep a cool mind," Xie commented on his performance.
"I was giving myself very simple mental cues, 'just knock one out'," he added.
This gold medal marks China's first in 16 years in the men's 10m air pistol event since Pang Wei's victory at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
"It's the biggest dream for me to win an Olympic gold," Xie said with a beaming smile. "Being able to stand on top of the podium means a lot to me."
Xie picked up shooting in the sixth grade after a friend of his uncle, who was a shooting coach, recognized his potential. In his teenage years, a time when many are lively and boisterous, the relatively monotonous sport of shooting seemed boring to Xie, leading him to "flee from" training several times.
Xie used the word "naughty" to describe his younger self. "As a kid, I wanted to play more and train less. I made it to the provincial team but was left out several times. It wasn't until the national trials for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 that I got back on track. After that, I trained seriously for every session until I was selected for the Paris Olympics," Xie explained.
Before coming to Paris, the Olympic debutant had limited experience in international competitions. Compared with decorated shooters like Christian Reitz and Damir Mikec, he was definitely an underdog in the final.
"I didn't think too much about winning," confessed Xie, who only began competing in global events in 2023.
"Coming to the Olympics, the anxiety and tension were always there. So every day, I had to do some simple 'self-brainwashing', telling myself to relax and not be so tense. 'It's your first Olympics; why set such high expectations for yourself? Just perform at your normal level,'" he reflected.
Now as an Olympic champion, Xie hasn't planned a celebration yet and has little time to do so before his next event, which starts qualification round on Monday morning.
"I think just moving on is pretty good," he said. ■
