CHATEAUROUX, France, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec came from behind to edge Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec of Türkiye 16-14 in the 10m air pistol mixed team final to secure Serbia's first gold medal of the Paris Olympics here on Tuesday.
The two teams were tied at 14-14, and it all came to the final shot, where Mikec shot for an impressive 10.7 to help Serbia clinch victory.
It is the first Olympic gold for Mikec in five Olympic Games. He won silver in the men's 10m air pistol in Tokyo three years ago.
"We work for all our lives to get on the highest podium and win the biggest medal that exists in all sports. This is a celebration of sport, this is a holiday of sport, and I'm so happy to be a part of it," said 40-year-old Mikec, who dedicated his medal to his late mother who passed away in 2003, the one who encouraged him to pick up shooting in the first place.
An emotional Arunovic dedicated hers to her late teammate and friend Bobana Momcilovic Velickovic, multiple European champion, who passed away after a short and severe illness at the age of 31 in 2020.
Despite the narrow defeat, 51-year-old Dikec, also a five-time Olympian, also has a reason to celebrate as the silver is his first ever Olympic medal.
"I'm very happy. An Olympic medal is an Olympic medal, and in Los Angeles (at the 2028 Olympic Games), hopefully it's a gold medal," said the Turkish veteran.
Tarhan and Dikec took an early 8-2 lead but Arunovic and Mikec won five of the following six series to move ahead at 12-10. The Turkish team won the following two series and got gold medal point at 14-12 thanks to a high-level performance by Dikec, but the Serbians leveled up with a 10.8 from Arunovic and a 10.5 from Mikec, before sealing the dramatic victory.
"As you could see, there was so much emotion. It was a real roller-coaster. We went down 8-2, but we have known each other for such a long time - for 20 years. We knew we could rely on each other to give our best, and we put our faith in each other," said Arunovic, who couldn't hold back her tears after the victory.
"We said, 'Let's go' and we managed to break the Turkish team by coming back equal with them. It was a nerve-racking ending but Damir gave us the final shot," she added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh of India fended off comeback efforts from Lee Won-ho and Oh Ye-jin of South Korea to win the bronze medal 16-10.
India enjoyed a big 14-6 lead but Lee delivered two 10.8 shots to keep South Korea's hopes alive. However, a 9.5 from Lee and a 9.0 from Oh were far from enough to stop the Indians, as Singh shot for 10.2 and Bhaker for 9.4 to claim the bronze.
This is the second medal for Bhaker at Paris 2024, after the 22-year-old became the first Indian female shooter to win an Olympic medal with a bronze in the women's 10m air pistol. ■
