Defending Olympic champion Guo Wenjun took the women’s 10m air pistol title on Sunday, holding her nerve to come from behind on the final shot to seize gold after a thrilling three-way tussle.

France’s Celine Goberville, who led going into the final shot, took silver after a shoot-off with Athens 2004 gold medallist Olena Kostevych of the Ukraine, who won bronze.

With her final effort, Guo shot a 10.8, just 0.1 points short of a maximum score, drawing gasps from the packed crowd at London’s Royal Artillery Barracks while Goberville could only manage 8.8.

That meant Goberville was locked on the same points as Kostevych, leading to a shoot-off. The Frenchwoman regained her nerve after the disappointment of missing out on gold to seize the silver.

Guo, whose win marks China’s second shooting gold of the Games, topped the earlier qualifying session.

The top eight competitors from the qualification round reach the final, shooting a further 10 shots - each fired individually under timed conditions and the scores are added together to determine the winner.