China's Guo wins Para biathlon women's sprint standing gold

CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou -- Guo Yujie won the Para biathlon women's sprint standing gold here on Saturday, which was the second gold for China on the first competition day of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.

Liu Zixu finished first in Para biathlon men's sprint sitting, earning China the first gold medal earlier.

In her Paralympic debut, the 17-year-old Guo finished the 6km course in 19 minutes and 43.3 seconds, missing one shot in the two rounds of prone.

"I did not expect a gold today. So everything is amazing," said Guo, who attended the opening ceremony in Beijing on Friday night as one of the flagbearers of the Chinese delegation.

"I feel proud of taking the medal for my hometown and motherland," Guo added.

The 28-year-old Liudmyla Liashenko from Ukraine, the bronze medalist at PyeongChang 2018, missed two shots and finished second with a gap of 8.4 seconds.

"It was a difficult race. I tried to do my best. The first shooting was not so good and I tried to shoot faster during the second shooting," Liashenko said.

Guo's teammate Zhao Zhiqing, 24, took the bronze with 21.8 seconds adrift of the winner.

"I felt good in today's competition, the shooting in particular," said Zhao. "The shooting result was better than that in practice."

"Both Guo and I are from Zhangjiakou. We feel great to win glory for our hometown," said Zhao, adding that she is more confident now in showing her best in the other three medal events she will attend.