Ukraine's sharp shooter Olena Kostevych claimed the Olympic women's 10m air pistol gold medal on Sunday after beating Jasna Sekaric of Serbia and Montenegro in a shoot-off.

Kostevych and Sekaric both finished the 10-shot final with a total of 483.3 points. The 19-year-old Ukrainian girl then scored 10.2 points against her rival's 9.4 points to scoop the top honor.

"It's the important moment in my life," said Kostevych, who is competing in her first Olympics.

Kostevych, who had started the final in eighth place, gradually moved into the lead on the penultimate shot but was then caught by Sekaric on the final shot, forcing the one-shot shoot-off.

"I didn't know my rank in the competition, I just tried my best," said Kostevych.

Sekaric, who topped the qualification round with 397 points, showed a fluctuant form in the final and once slumped to eighth. The fourth-time Olympian steadily clawed her way back but failed in the shoot-off.

The dramatic final also witnessed two other shoot-offs that decided the bronze-medalist and the fifth-place. Bulgarian Maria Grozdeva (10.4) edged China's Ren Jie (9.7) to take the bronze medal.

Russian Natalia Paderina (10.0) pipped Germany's Munkhbayar Dorjsuren (9.3) to finish fifth.

Defending Olympic champion Tao Luna, who has been struggling with dismal form since this year, suffered an early exit in the qualification round with 366 points. The 30-year-old equaled the Olympic qualification record of 390 points en route to taking the title in Sydney in 2000.

Results of women's 10m air pistol

1. Olena Kostevych, Ukraine, 483.3 points (win by shoot off)

2. Jasna Sekaric, Serbia and Montenegro, 483.3

3. Maria Grozdeva, Bulgaria, 482.3 (by shoot off)

4. Ren Jie, China, 482.3

5. Natalia Paderina, Russia, 481.9 (by shoot off)

6. Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, Germany, 481.9

7. Cornelia Froelich, Switzerland, 481.5

8. Irada Ashumova, Azerbaijan, 481.4

Source: Xinhua