On October 12, the Chinese Shooting Association officially announced the list of participants in this year's World Cup Finals, including Sheng Lihao, Liu Yukun, Xie Yu, Huang Yuting, Li Yuehong and other Olympic champions. This is also the most important international event in shooting after the Paris Olympics. The Chinese shooting team played with an all-main lineup, showing that they attach great importance to this event.
It is understood that the Chinese shooting team will immediately start preparations after arriving in India on the 12th. It is also worth mentioning that before the World Cup Finals, the International Shooting Federation will select the best male and female athletes of the year. According to the previously announced shortlist, the four men's Olympic champions of the Chinese shooting team, Sheng Lihao, Liu Yukun, Xie Yu and Li Yuehong, have all been shortlisted, and one of them is expected to win the award. The female athletes of the Chinese shooting team unfortunately failed to be shortlisted.
At the Paris Olympics, the Chinese shooting team won 5 golds, 2 silvers and 3 bronzes, and the number of gold medals tied the highest record of the Beijing Olympics. Most of the members of this team are post-00s, they have strong plasticity and a lot of room for growth, and the future of this team is also expected by the outside world.
Shooting is a relatively unpopular event, but due to the excellent results in the Paris Olympics, shooting athletes such as Sheng Lihao, Huang Yuting, Xie Yu, and Li Yuehong have been widely concerned by the outside world. After the Games, these Olympic champions took part in celebrations and promotions, and they used their experiences to illustrate the essence of the Olympic spirit.
Among them, Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting are the two shooting athletes with the most attention from the outside world. Both are post-00s, with an age difference of 2 years. Both showed outstanding strength in both men's and women's air rifle events, and gradually became the leaders of the Chinese shooting team. After winning gold at the Paris Olympics, Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting also won the nicknames of "Brother Ganfan" and "Sister Atiao" respectively on the Internet.
Stepping off the podium, everything starts from scratch. Sheng Lihao once told a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily: "I don't think I will change anything after winning the Olympic championship. I'm still training hard and staying in shape. At the National Shooting Championships at the end of September, Sheng Lihao won the double championship in the men's 10m air rifle and 50m rifle three-position events, continuing his good form this year.
The Shooting World Cup Finals, which will take place in India on October 14, is the most important international shooting event since the Paris Olympics. The Chinese shooting team is competing in the full Olympic squad and will be hoping to bring this year's event to a successful conclusion with excellent results.
It is noteworthy that this year, a total of four male players from the Chinese shooting team were shortlisted for the best athlete of the year, namely Sheng Lihao, Li Yuehong, Liu Yukun, and Xie Yu. They will compete with Mona of Italy and Hancock of United States for the Male Athlete of the Year award.
The outside world has great expectations for Sheng Lihao. He has been in an unusually consistent form in all competitions this year. He won the two World Cups before the Olympics. At the Paris Olympics, he won two gold medals. If you talk about the performance in 2024 alone, Sheng Lihao really deserves such an honor. Currently, Sheng Lihao is ranked No. 1 in the world in the men's 10m air rifle and holds world records in the finals and qualifying rounds of the youth and senior categories in this event. So far, Sheng Lihao's shooting career has lacked gold medals in the World Cup Finals and World Championships in individual events.
However, Sheng Lihao also faces stiff competition. Among them, United States skeet star Hancock is the strongest one. Hancock has won four Olympic titles since he won gold in Paris. The International Shooting Federation specifically commented that he was "one of the legendary athletes in the history of the Olympic Games".
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Song Xiang
Editor/Wang Haozhou