She had to put her own medal round her neck and sing the national anthem behind a mask, but Chinese shooter Yang Qian still celebrated winning the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics.
The morning after the delayed Games had opened with a scaled-back and sombre ceremony, Yang won the 10-metre rifle competition in front of empty stands.
She was handed her medal on a tray by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach in accordance with the Covid-19 protocols that will affect every aspect of these Games.
Rock music had been piped into the venue and only a handful of Chinese support staff were there to congratulate her on her victory after a nail-biting final in which she clinched victory with an Olympic record over Russian Anastasiia Galashina in the last round, but she savoured the moment.
“I’m extremely proud and happy to win,” said Yang, 21.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike has featured at her last Olympic game after she lost to Liu Juan of the USA in their preliminary round singles match in the table tennis event at on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
Oshonaike who spoke immediately after the match said, “I’m going to appear in Paris 2024 but as a spectator.”
Liu, 36, sealed a 4-1 win over Oshonaike, who is competing at her seventh Olympics.
Oshonaike put up a good fight in the first game going down 11-7 but was no match for her opponents in the second and third games losing 11-3 and 11-4.
The veteran Olympian took the fourth game 13-11, before Liu won the fifth game 11-4.
Speaking after her defeat, Oshonaike said: ”I just lost, I’m supposed to be kind of sad, but I’m happy that we can be here at the Olympics. This is the spirit of the Games, you lose or win but we are all Olympians.”