China wins Paris Olympics' 1st gold medal; defeat South Korea in shooting competition

China defeated South Korea in the gold medal match and Kazakhstan won the bronze

China’s Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao picked up the first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday as they topped South Korea’s Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun in the 10-meter air rifle mixed team, 16-12.

It’s China’s 68th medal in the sport of shooting and 27th gold medal. It was Huang’s first medal in the sport and Sheng’s second medal. Sheng won a silver medal in the 10-meter air rifle at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

China's shooting team

Sheng Lihao L and Huang Yuting of China pose for photos after the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Gold Medal Match of Shooting at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 26, 2023. (Shan Yuqi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The Chinese pair’s win in Paris followed their gold medal victory in the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan last year.

It’s the first Olympic medals for the South Korean pair. Keum won a gold medal in the women’s 10-meter air rifle at the World Cup earlier this year.

Kazakhstan’s Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev were awarded the first medals of the Paris Olympics on Saturday as they defeated Germany’s Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich.

The Kazakhstan team won the match 17-5. Le and Satpayey topped Great Britain’s Seonaid McIntosh and Michael Bargeron on Thursday.

Kazakhstan shooting team

Kazakhstan's Alexandra Le and Kazakhstan's Islam Satpayev compete in the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team Bronze Medal during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 29, 2024.  (ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

LIVE UPDATES: THE PARIS OLYMPICS' FIRST MEDALS TO BE HANDED OUT AS SUMMER GAMES KICKS INTO HIGH GEAR

Kazakhstan took home eight medals, all bronze, at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The team had 17 total medals, including 10 bronze, five silver and two gold, at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

The Kazakhstan team only had three medals in the sport going into bronze medal match. The team won two silver and a bronze and now have more bronze to add to their total.

Sergey Belyayev had two silver medals in the men’s 50-meter rifle prone and the men’s 50-meter prone meter rifle three positions in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Vladimir Vokhmyanin won the men’s 25-meter rapid fire pistol.

China’s Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won gold over the United States’ Mary Tucker and Lucas Kozeniesky. The Russian Olympic Committee’s Yulia Karimova and Sergey Kamenskiy topped South Korea’s Kwon Eun-ji and Nam Tae-yun for the bronze medal.

Keum Jihyeon for South Korea

South Korea's Keum Jihyeon competes in the shooting 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Gold Medal during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 29, 2024. (ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

These were the first medals handed out in the Olympics.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

Authored by Ryan Gaydos via FoxNews July 27th 2024