Emmons wins first gold

Emmons, who met and married US shooter Matt Emmons after winning bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, equalled a world record score of 400 in the qualification round and was near flawless in the final to win gold medal a score of 503.5 - a new Olympic record.

"I was so nervous," she said after the event that traditionally opens the Olympics. "Our heart rate was so high. I'm seriously happy it is over and I hold gold."

Du Li of China, the heavy favourite whose gold four years ago at the start of the 2004 Olympics led a Chinese medal winning streak, wept after finishing fifth. She had won the gold medal in Athens and had been favourite at the Olympics at home.

"I feel really bad for Du Li, I do -- and I'd like to give these flowers to her because she can shoot way better than she did today," Emmons said, holding the flowers she was given at the medal ceremony led by IOC president Jacque Rogge.

"Sorry, the Chinese press is putting a lot of pressure on Chinese athletes," Emmons added. "I had a hard time handling my own pressure. It's obvious to see there's a lot of pressure (on Du) everywhere, every day in training, all around her."

Lioubov Galkina of Russia won the silver medal with a score of 502.1. She had also won silver in Athens. Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia took bronze with 500.9.

Emmons hit the bullseye on all 40 of her qualifying round shots for a perfect 400 score. Du had also been perfect before getting nine on her 34th shot in qualifying to finish with 399 points. She seemed dejected after that result.

Emmons, who married the US shooter last year, was previously known as Katerina Kurkova.

"She did a fantastic job. I'm so proud of her," Matt Emmons said. Emmons had gone over to his wife and kissed her as she took a rest during her perfect qualifying round.

"It happened to me once too. You just want to take a break and chat," he said. "So her dad and I just talked to her for a minute."

Matt Emmons missed out on a gold medal in Athens with an ill-timed lapse of concentration, when he fired at the wrong target on his last shot. The two met right after that when she approached him to tell him how sorry she felt for him.

Katerina Emmons went out of her way to praise her husband.

"He's the best team mate I ever had," she said. "It's great to have him. I knew I'd do good even if he couldn't be here and he'd do great if I wasn't here. The fact we're here together is awesome. We work as a team. It's one of the best in the world."

Emmons said their kisses in the heat of the battle was perfectly normal thing for married people to do.

"The kiss is completely natural," she said. "He's my husband. It's just a good thing."

China's Pang Wei won the Olympic gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol, restoring the host nation's pride hours after compatriot Li wilted under the enormous pressure of home crowd expectations in her event.

Pang, the 2006 world champion and the pre-Olympics favourite, won with a score of 688.2. He built a comfortable lead in the qualification round and was never threatened. He turned and bowed to the big crowd of more than 2,000 that loudly cheered his victory.

Jin Jong-oh of South Korea won the silver medal with a score of 684.5 and Kim Jong Su of North Korea got bronze with 683.0.

"I had no idea about the result from this morning," Pang said, referring to Du's stunning meltdown that led to a tear-filled exit past reporters at the Beijing shooting range hall.

"We have 'information control measures' to avoid pressure on athletes and on shooters," the 22-year-old added. "I do hope my winning the gold medal can bring luck to the Chinese team. I do hope that our Chinese shooting team can win more medals.

In Athens in 2004, China took top honours in the shooting competition with four gold medals and nine medals in total. The host country was hoping to do at least as well in 2008, even though the number of events has been reduced from 17 to 15.

"The Olympics are the highest level of competition and with all the years of preparation you certainly feel excited," Pang said when asked about missing the bullseye on his final shot with a subpar 9.3 after getting 10s in eight straight shots before that.

"I failed to effectively control my emotions," added Pang, who kept his left hand tucked coolly in the pocket of his trousers while shooting. "I can get more than 10 points in all rounds but in the finals it's hard to control your emotions."

He said he thrived on the hopes of 1.3 billion Chinese eager for medals and did not feel negative pressure.

"It's a kind of festival," he said. "We shouldn't be drawn off course by all the pressure. We're here to show our best. I don't feel nervous, but did feel some pressure to perform my best after so many years of training. This final sharpened my skills."

He rejected notions about too much media pressure at home.

"I believe that the way outsiders or the press people look at you is another story. I just focus on my job, how can I do my job as best as possible. With such thoughts in my mind I can go to the Games in a relaxed mood and ensure best performance.

Kim of North Korea said there was no pattern to three Europeans winning medals in the morning and three Asians winning in the afternoon: "It doesn't have anything to do with luck. It has to do with athletes who were able to control their emotions."