A Golden Beginning

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To paraphrase Deng Xiaoping, to get gold is glorious. But silver's not so bad either, and that's what Chinese shooter Du Li had until the last round of the women's 10-m air rifle final—the first medal event of the Athens Games. Russia's Lioubov Galkina, the leader since the start of the competition, had posted no score lower than 10 so far, on a scale of 11; the gold medal was practically around her neck. But the Russian's final shot went wide, leaving her with a 9.7. The crowd at the Markopoulo Shooting Center gasped at the door she'd just opened for Du. The Chinese woman shot right through it, posting a 10.6 and bagging the gold.

The dozens of Chinese in the crowd erupted. Galkina managed a half-smile and a shake of her head. Du, who holds the world record in this event and won the silver at the world championships last year, had gone one better: with 502 points, she had set an Olympic record, beating Galkina (501.5) and Czech shooter Katerina Kurkova (501.1) in the process. Du smiled bashfully, walked back toward her stand and began packing up her things, another good day's work done.

Of course, it wasn't over yet: when a coach ran up and hugged Du moments later, the new champion's tears started flowing. As she made her way off the floor a few minutes later, she had no words to describe her joy—or, if she did, nobody could hear them over the horde of Chinese journalists who thronged around her, jostling for position, shouting out questions, and shoving mikes and tape recorders in Du's direction. "Everybody move back!" a marshal shouted repeatedly in English. Those that understood ignored her, while those that didn't pushed even closer, ignoring the heavy metal barricades. One American photographer surveyed the scrum and said, "Even in the post office, it's like this in China."

Well, perhaps not—but imagine what it will be like in four years' time when China hosts the Games in Beijing. China is watching events in Athens closely this year, hoping for an augury of what is to come when the Middle Kingdom takes center stage. To win the first medal in Athens—a mere Olympic rehearsal for 2008, in many minds—is an auspicious start to their campaign. To get gold is glorious. But it will be even more so to do it at home.