If Retton’s championship lost any luster – and a ideal 10 is a flawless 10 – due to the Russians’ absence, Thrasher beat the best the world has to offer, taking on 34-year-old Li Du, China’s gold medal champion from the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
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She then joined her high school air rifle team and was recruited by West Virginia University, where she became a national collegiate champion as a freshman this year.
Thrasher was not a favorite to win going into the Olympics.
Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Demarcus Cousins added 17 for the win.
Durant made three 3-pointers in the first half as the US opened a 29-point halftime lead and coasted. Yi earned air rifle gold at the 2012 London Games just three years after starting her global shooting career. She eventually slipped off the pace to finish fifth. Hagino is the first non-American since 1992 to win the event.
The Hungarian star, known as “The Iron Lady” for her grueling schedule, crushed the former mark in the women’s 400-meter individual medley Saturday night at the Rio Games.
One of NBC’s pre-games fears came true: usa viewership dropped off following the entrance of the United States team in the Parade of Nations.
Brazil’s Francielle Rocha, left, celebrates with team mates after defeating Norway during the women’s preliminary handball match between Norway and Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Au.
– The U.S. women’s soccer team puts its 12-match Olympics winning streak on the line in a tough match-up against France.
Solo became the first goalkeeper, male or female, to reach the 200th-cap mark in worldwide play.
Less than a month later, Thrasher won the U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a spot in Rio.
– USA boxers were 2-for-2 as light flyweight Nico Hernandez won a unanimous decision over two-time Olympian Manuel Cappai after lightweight Carlos Balderas won his bout.
Ex-Huskers Jordan Larson, Kayla Banwarth and Kelsey Robinson led the United States to a sweep of Puerto Rico in women’s volleyball.
Coming off a World Cup Finals victory, the US women’s soccer team took the pitch to square off against France, where Carli Lloyd did what she does best, scoring the only goal in the 64th minute in a 1-0 win.
Thrasher is only 19 years old and is a rising sophomore at WVU. The Americans had four one-goal leads but couldn’t hold on. Three years ago, according to the Washington Post, Thrasher was the 45th rated junior shooter in the country.
Early singles exit for Jack Sock: The American lost 6-4, 6-4 against world No. 118 Daniel Taro on the first day of the tennis competition.
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FIRST CONTROVERSY – Carmelo Anthony says his U.S. men’s basketball teammates need to accept responsibility and move on after reports that three players visited a legal brothel in Rio de Janeiro.
