With former Olympic champion Du Li and Yi Siling on the same court at women’s 10m air rifle final, US shooter Virginia Thrasher staged a steady performance to bring the first gold medal of Rio Olympics to Team USA.
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American teenager Virginia Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics in the women’s 10-meter air rifle Saturday, and host Brazil recorded the first upset of the games, stunning reigning Olympic and world champion Norway in women’s handball.
Ranked No. 23 in the world and at just 19 years old – the Springfield, Virginia, native only started shooting five years ago, according to NBCOlympics.com – Thrasher said she believed she would make the finals, but didn’t know how well she would fare against her competitors. “Things were happening very fast and all of a sudden, my aim was good and it was an exciting feeling”. During her freshman year in college, she led West Virginia University to an NCAA team rifle championship while winning her own individual events. The U.S. women have won the last five gold medals in basketball, and seven of the last eight.
“I just had a plan today to do the best I could and I’m happy with my result”. Du finished with 207.0.
In the spectacular opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics 2016 at the Macarana Stadium, around 70 athletes and 24 officials walked in as the 95th country.
South Korean archers once again showed their overwhelming dominance as they outclassed a consistent American team 6-0 in the final.
U.S. teenager Virginia Thrasher claimed the first Rio Olympics gold medal with her final shot in the shooting on Saturday.
Their teammate, the only female in the archery group, Texan Mackenzie Brown, took a break from competition to put on her super fan hat and cheer on the guys Saturday.
Solo is one of a record 292 women on the U.S. Olympic team. Li matched that score, but only got a 10.1 on her final shot while Thrasher scored a 10.4. He already won 22 Olympic medals, 18 of them his favorite color: gold.
The Americans haven’t medaled since 1984, a bronze in Los Angeles.
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Rosie MacLennan, Canada’s only gold medallist from the 2012 London Olympics, wore a wide grin as she waved the Maple Leaf as the team’s flag-bearer. Solo earned the shutout in her 200th game with the United States team, making her the first goalkeeper in history to reach that milestone in worldwide play. Talking about his faith in relation to sport, he said: “I approach the practices and the competitions the same”.
