Attractive Beijing Olympics 2008 opening ceremony photo gallery

Olympics: First hitch for China as medal eludes golden girl

Sport has many qualities but none ranks higher than its refusal to bend to the desires of those in charge, and if the organisers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were not aware of that fact then they are now.

After a stunning opening ceremony, what better way to begin the party than for China to win the first gold, which might explain why, when the competition schedule was drawn up, the women's 10m air rifle was nominated to be the first event of the Games.

The sport - a quiet, compelling test of nerve and skill - has been dominated in recent years by Du Li, a 26-year-old student from Shandong who won gold at the 2004 Games in Athens and has collected world championships and world cup victories with startling regularity ever since.

She arrived at the shooting hall this morning as favourite and was garlanded on to the stage by the home crowd, with the event itself seemingly nothing but a staging post on her way to the medal podium.

Two hours later Du had been vanquished by Katrina Emmons of the Czech Republic, who took gold with an Olympic record score of 503.5, with Lioubov Galina of Russia second and Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia third.

Du finished in fifth place with a score of 499.6 - an enormous deficit in a sport where decimal fractions are like tombstones for those who let them slip away. No wonder the Chinese woman was visibly upset as she took the last three of her 10 shots in the final, by which time it was clear her favouritism had turned to dust, and that she would not be taking her designated place as the first winner of the 2008 Games.

"I did well enough in qualifying, but I wasn't fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home," Du admitted afterwards, something that the winner acknowledged afterwards to reporters.

"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.

Olympics 2008: Shooting Beijing, shooting, women's 10m air pistol Russian and Georgian medalists embrace on podium

A Russian and a Georgian shared a podium today, putting aside the conflict that has erupted between the two countries and providing a lift to a Georgian team that had contemplated withdrawing from the Games.

Nino Salukvadze took bronze for Georgia in the women's 10m air pistol, with Russia's Natalia Paderina collecting silver. After the medal ceremony the two posed together for photographers, their arms on each others' shoulders, and Paderina gave Salukvadze a kiss on the cheek.

"This medal is good for Georgia, especially during times like this," Salukvadze said. "I am very nervous today. It's very difficult for my people." The Georgian government has decided to keep its 35-member team at the Olympics, and Salukvadze expressed the hope that the Games' ideals of peace would provide an example to those watching.

"If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars," she said. "We live in the 21st century, after all. We shouldn't really stoop so low to wage wars against each other."

"It's very difficult for us as Georgians because of everything that's going on at home. It was nice that Natalia Paderina came up to me after and gave me a handshake," Salukvadze added. "Yesterday I thought the Georgian Olympic team might withdraw."

"As far as the hugging and kissing goes, I do that with many friends. I have many friends around the world and will always do that. There should be no hatred among athletes and people," she said. "Politicians should straighten out the situation today and if they don't, we'll have to get involved."

A team spokesman said the Georgian athletes were ready to leave the Olympics if it would help, but the International Olympic Council announced on Sunday morning that both the Georgia and Russia teams had decided to remain in Beijing.

Federer safely into round two in Beijing

Roger Federer cruised into the second round of the Olympics and then vowed not to "freak out" at his impending demotion.

Federer will have sat on top of the world rankings for a record 238 weeks by the time he is supplanted by Rafael Nadal on August 18.

The Swiss has had a poor year by his lofty standards, failing to win a grand slam with just the US Open to come this season.

Success in China would go some way to alleviating the disappointment and the 27-year-old certainly looked impressive in his opening-round 6-4 6-2 victory over Russia's Dmitry Tursunov.

"My goal is to try to get the number one ranking back," he said afterwards.

"You can't keep your ranking forever. I think you have to have a different approach, see what the next step is.

"What I don't like to do because you don't play so well is freak out and have emergency meetings. That's not going to happen."

French Open and Wimbledon champion Nadal was not as impressive on Monday, requiring three sets to see off Italian Potito Starace 6-2 3-6 6-2.

After failing to convert seven consecutive break-point chances in the second and third sets, he broke for a 4-2 lead in the decider. He erased a 15-40 deficit on his serve in the next game, then broke again for the victory.

"I had a lot of opportunities. I didn't convert, so that was tough," Nadal said. "But I was winning the serves without problems. He had more problems than me when he was serving, so that gave me confidence."

Nadal next will face a former world number one in Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, a 7-5 7-6 (7/2) winner over Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden.

Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic posted the first upset of the day, ousting fifth seed David Ferrer 7-6 (10/8) 6-2.

After the first set took 79 minutes, Spaniard Ferrer was not as crisp in the second, double-faulting five times.

Of the other numerous winners on Monday was Chile's Nicolas Massu, the defending Olympic champion.

Given a spot in the draw by the International Tennis Federation due to the fact that he stands 125th in the world, Massu came through with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Belgium's Steve Darcis.

The unseeded Massu will have his hands full in the second round as he will have to go up against seventh seed David Nalbandian.

The Argentinian moved through in convincing fashion with a 6-2 6-1 rout of China's Shaoxuan Zeng.

In other matches involving seeded players, ninth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 10th seed Gilles Simon of France and 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia all advanced.

Spain's Nicolas Almagro, the 11th seed, was upset by Gael Monfils of France 6-4 3-6 6-3.

In the women's draw, fourth seed Serena Williams won all but four games to complete a 6-3 6-1 victory over Olga Govortsova in a match held over due to rain on Sunday.

Sixth seed Dinara Safina and ninth seed Vera Zvonareva also progressed.

Safina beat Mara Santangelo 6-3 7-6 (7/1) while Zvonareva crushed Yan Zi 6-2 6-0.

Some 65 matches were scheduled for Monday after thunderstorms all but wiped out day one, when only nine matches were completed at the Olympic Green Tennis Center.