Host story on Day One

In the sporting arena, China’s dreams of winning the first gold were dashed in the women’s 10-metre air rifle as pressure got to favourite Du Li, who finished fifth and left in tears. Instead, Katerina Emmons won for the Czech Republic. “There was pressure for all of us but for her it was even harder,” Emmons said of her competitor. “I’m sorry, but the Chinese press is putting a lot of pressure on Chinese athletes.”

Short wait

Emmons met her husband, American shooter Matt, at Athens in 2004 after he famously missed a gold medal on the last shot by firing at the wrong target and Katerina offered commiserations.

The Chinese did not have to wait long for glory, Chen Xiexia taking gold in the women’s 48kg weightlifting cheered by shouts of ‘Go China.’ Draped in the national flag, she beamed and sang the anthem with gusto on the podium.

It added new meaning to the medal, she said, after learning it was China’s first. “I have been thinking of winning a medal but never thought it would turn out to be the first gold medal for China. I’m very happy and I think I did a very good job.”

Buoyed by a roaring home crowd, the 25-year-old world champion dominated both events, lifting 95 kgs in the snatch and 117 kgs in the clean and jerk, an Olympic record. Her total score of 212 kgs was also an Olympic high score, beating the previous record by 2 kgs.

Ozkan was a distant second with a total of 199 kgs, 3 kgs ahead of Chen Wei-ling. The Taiwanese had a shot at the silver medal, but failed in her final attempt at 115 kgs, collapsing to the floor as the bar dropped.

Pang on target

China’s Pang Wei followed up with victory in the men’s 10-metre air pistol, bowing as the big crowd cheered his victory. 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 earlier on Saturday and was never threatened after that. He bowed as the big crowd cheered his victory. Jin Jong-oh of South Korea won the silver medal ahead of Kim Jong Su of North Korea, who got bronze. Two Americans unexpectedly reached the finals but narrowly missed the podium. Jason Turner took fourth place and Brian Beaman was fifth.

Spain scored their first success in the men’s cycling road race, the first event to test the ability of athletes to endure long exposure to the heat and pollution of a Beijing summer. Samuel Sanchez won the 245-km race under hazy skies from the Forbidden City to the hilly Great Wall along what has been described as one of the toughest courses ever.

Smog has been a feature of the run-up to the Games despite an $18 billion campaign to clean the air around the city.