A Russian shooter’s slip-up costs her the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics.

TOKYO — A terrible last shot cost a Russian shooter the first gold medal of the 2020 Olympics.

In the women’s air rifle competition on Saturday morning, Anastasiia Galashina held a lead of 0.2 of a point over Yang Qian of China with one shot to go.

Air rifle at the highest level is a witheringly precise sport. The bull’s-eye is a mere half a millimeter across.

Galashina fired her last shot and missed the center of the target, scoring just 8.9 points. It was the worst score of the entire eight-woman final. Yang’s last shot, at 9.8, was her lowest score of the competition as well, but it was easily enough to surpass Galashina and win the gold medal.

Galashina’s blunder was all the more remarkable because her previous shot had been worth 10.8, just a tenth of a point short of the maximum score.

“I got too nervous, held on too long,” Galashina said afterward. “My thoughts were not in the right place. I lost concentration.”

“But now I am happy,” she added. “I made a mistake. Nothing major. It will allow me to learn something; it’s a lesson for the future.”

Nina Christen of Switzerland won the bronze, and the American shooter Mary Tucker placed sixth.