The first medals up for grabs in the Beijing Olympics are in the shooting. The final of the women’s 10 meter Air Rifles starts at 10:30 a.m. Beijing time.

Favorites for the gold medal are Athens 2004 gold medalist Du Li (China), World No. 1 Sonja Pfeilschifter (Germany) and the winner of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle at the Good Luck Beijing ISSF World Cup in April 2008, Katerina Emmons (Czech Republic).

The finals of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and the Men’s 10m Air Pistol will be contested, while the qualification round of the Men’s Trap will also be held.

The final of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle starts at 10:30 a.m. local time, ensuring that the first gold medal of the Games will be given out to the winner. The favorites for the gold medal are Athens 2004 gold medalist Du Li (China), Sonja Pfeilschifter (Germany) and Katerina Emmons (Czech Republic).

The Men’s 10 meter air pistol starts at 12 p.m. Beijing time with France’s Franck Dumoulin favorite for the medal.
China’s Pang Wei also has a chance for a medal along with Russia’s Vladimir Isakov and Vladimir Gontcharov.

Michael Diamond from Australia is favorite in the Men’s trap. He won gold in Atlanta and Sydney. Alexey Alipov who took the gold at Athens, will be his main rival.