Gold medal 'best gift ever' for birthday girl

Shooter celebrates her 20th year by taking top prize in women's team event

Chinese pistol shooter Lin Yaxi gave herself a spectacular surprise on her 20th birthday on Tuesday by winning a gold medal during the Chengdu FISU World University Games.

"It is a wonderful gift, the best present ever. I am so, so happy," she said on Tuesday at the Chengdu Shooting Sport School, beaming with the gold medal around her neck.

Lin, along with her teammates Xiong Yaxuan and Wang Keyi, won gold at the 25-meter women's team pistol event on Tuesday.

During the award ceremony, organizers of the event played a birthday song for the 20-year-old. In a heartwarming twist, the lyrics were changed from "happy birthday to you" to "happy birthday my champion".

Seeing all the people at the venue singing along and clapping for her, Lin, standing on the top of the podium, bowed and waved to spectators, mouthing "thank you" several times.

"I was totally not prepared for this occasion and was startled at first. It was such a great surprise, and I am very happy at the moment," she said.

"I have also received so many congratulatory messages today. At the athletes' village, volunteers also prepared a birthday cake and a bowl of birthday noodles for me."

Lin, a student-athlete from the Zhejiang College of Sports in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, began training to shoot at age 12. She is also the youngest shooter on the Chinese national shooting team.

"It was my first time competing in a comprehensive global sports event. Actually, I am happy just standing here, and it is a great honor for me to represent China."

Lin made some errors during the qualification round for the individual event on Tuesday morning and failed to qualify for the final in the afternoon. Under the format, individual qualification results from contenders representing the same country will be added up to generate winners for the team event.

After the qualification round, Lin was visibly dejected, lowering her head. Her two teammates quickly consoled her, with one patting her on the back and the other holding her right hand.

"It was a pity that I didn't perform better today, but I guess it is a natural part of growing up, and I've learned a lot by competing with so many top athletes from around the world," Lin said.

Xiong, the bronze medalist for the individual event, said: "We just told her not to blame herself. We have all done our best as a team."

Competing on their home turf put additional pressure on the young athletes, said Huang Chunhui, their coach.

"Shooting is different from other sports in that competing in a spectator-filled arena with so many people cheering on might have a negative impact on one's performance," he said.

Breaking away from the conventional blanket silence at shooting arenas, many events, including the Chengdu games, have adopted new rules released by the International Shooting Sport Federation that allow spectators to cheer for the athletes.

"During preparations for the race, we paid special attention to training the girls to stay calm in noisy environments, ignore interruptions and focus on the game," he said. "I also taught them to relax and use the games as an opportunity to gain experience. They will compete in more contests in the future."

Now that the three have finished all of their competitions, Wang Keyi, who went to college in Chengdu, said she would like to take her teammates to see pandas.

"I have not seen some famous pandas myself, and I think this time, we can go together," she said.