Shooting Preview: Barring stage fright, China set to dominate

(BEIJING, August 8) -- Shooting might be one of the less-known Olympic sports, but all eyes will be on the Women's 10m Air Rifle Medal Ceremony, where the first gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games will be awarded to the winning athlete.

The US shooting team has been ranked near the top for years, winning more Olympic gold medals than any other country, 49 in all, more than the total number of medals won by Russia/USSR. But this year, China's leading marksmen and women might very well dominate the tournament.

China, the host country of the 2008 Games, will be paying especially close attention to its favorite in the 10m Air Rifle event, Du Li, the gold medalist in the Women's 10m Air Rifle at the 2004 Athens Games. Du will be looking to repeat her success of four years ago, this time on home soil.

Zhao Yinghui, who failed to place in the previous two Olympic Games, will join her teammate Du, as another one of China's Olympic medal hopefuls.

But the big question this year is whether or not Du, Zhao, and the rest of the Chinese team will be able over to overcome the pressure that comes with performing before a home crowd.

Some of the worlds best marksmen have faltered before when playing on home-turf. Australia's Michael Diamond, who won gold at home in the Men's Trap at Sydney 2000, failed to win his third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal in the Individual Trap in front of a home crowd at the 2006 Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Diamond blamed his blunder on the pressure of not letting his countrymen and women down. He told reporters: "All these people turning out to watch us shoot, and without us winning gold previously they wouldn't be here, they wouldn't know what shooting is all about, so in a way I sort of feel bad."

Similarly, fellow Australian Adam Vella, who failed to qualify for the finals in the same event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, blamed his less-than-perfect aim on the pressures of playing at home. After the shoot he remarked, "[shooting] in front of a home crowd, sort of puts you under a lot of extra pressure, and I just didn't get on top of it the whole tournament."

The kind of extra pressure that comes from playing on home turf is a major concern for Chinese shooter Zhang Shan, who believes what is normally seen as a home advantage, could in fact destabilize the performance of Chinese athletes. In 1992, Zhang won a gold medal at Barcelona in the Mixed Skeet. She was the first and last woman to win gold in the mixed event because separate skeet events began to be held for men and women from the 1996 Atlanta Games onward.

Taking Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang as an example, Zhang told reporters: "When he is abroad, when he is preparing to run, he doesn't understand what the crowd is saying. It's a case of, 'If I don't understand it, I don't hear it.'" Liu Xiang, of course, is an exceptional case because he is a focal point for the entire Olympics. But Chinese shooters also face pressure.

Like Zhang Shan, the head coach of China's shooting team, Wang Yifu, is worried that his shooters will be affected by the chatter of well-meaning local supporters. Wang has called the home advantage, the "home venue curse."

The Chinese shooting team is worried that its shooters will be distracted by the scores being announced in Chinese, which makes them think more about the overall results and not the next shot.

"Being able to understand cheers from a Chinese-speaking crowd and home venue pressure are the biggest obstacles," said Wang. Tan Zongliang, a veteran Chinese pistol shooter voiced a similar opinion: "I think understanding the scores, not only mine, but all of the others, does have a sort of influence."

Wang's trepidation may also be due to the poor performance of his team at the "Good Luck Beijing" ISSF World Cup in April this year. While Du Li snagged a gold medal in the Women's 50m Rifle Three Positions, she only came away with a bronze in the Women's 10m Air Rifle. Chen Ying, World No. 6 in Women's 25m Pistol, Jia Zhanbo, gold medalist at Athens for Men's 50m rifle three positions, and Zhao Yinghui all failed to win a medal.

Besides being disturbed by the pressure and noise of the home crowd, the Chinese shooters also face a slew of highly-skilled competitors. Du and Zhao will need to beat Germany's Sonja Pfeilschifter, World No.1 in both the Women's 10m Air Rifle and Women's 50m Rifle Three Positions.

In Women's 25m Pistol, Chen Ying faces a tough field, including compatriot Guo Wenjun, who is the World No. 4 in the event. Australia's Lalita Yauhleuskaya will be looking for her first gold medal after winning a bronze in the event at Sydney 2000. World No. 2, Jasna Sekaric, from Serbia is already familiar with the Olympic venue after winning gold at the "Good Luck Beijing" ISSF World Cup.

World No. 1 in Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions, Jia Zhanbo, will be looking for another medal to add to his Olympic gold in Athens. Although he will have to improve his aim after a poor performance at the "Good Luck Beijing" ISSF World Cup, which was won by World No. 10 Josselin Henry of France.

Meanwhile, Michael Diamond will be competing for his third gold medal in the Men's Trap. Diamond missed out at Athens 2004 after a well-publicized spat with his girlfriend supposedly interfered with his game. Men's Trap is one of the few events that China does not have a top ten competitor. Diamond's main competition will come from Russia's Alexey Alipov, who won the gold medal at Athens 2004 and Slovakia's Mario Filipovic, who is the World No. 4 and won the Men's Trap at the "Good Luck Beijing" ISSF World Cup.