Ginny Thrasher is the cheery owner of a menacing name, a soft smile and a high-powered, German-made weapon that easily could be a mistaken for a prop from a science fiction movie.
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Thrasher’s prowess with a gun didn’t begin until that fateful hunting trip.
And the first medal goes to..
“It’s a sport of precision”, Thrasher said of shooting.
Gold medal victor, Virginia Thrasher of the United States, sings along with the US national anthem after receiving the gold medal during the victory ceremony for the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event at Olympic Shooting Center at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. “Then, to have a final that was an honor to be a part of, win (the final) and stand on the podium and hear my nation’s anthem was a very pride-instilling moment for me”.
She wasn’t merely “here” in Rio.
Virginia Thrasher (C) of the United States, Du Li (L) and Yi Siling of China attend the awarding ceremony of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle of shooting of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 6, 2016.
“This is beyond my wildest dreams”, she said. The finals for the women are at 7 p.m. following the bronze medal match at 6:30 p.m. The idea of yielding a gun and taking dead aim at a target almost 33 feet away was completely foreign. She is now a rising sophomore at West Virginia University, where she is majoring in Engineering. “I don’t think I could have gone any faster”, he said.
19-year-old USA shooter Virginia Thrasher won her first worldwide competition medal on Saturday, which happened to be the first gold at 2016 Rio Olympics.
Thrasher remained on top as her competitors fell off, despite the blowing of the air horn at random times by a fan she consistently hit 10s.
Shortly after discovering that her sport is shooting, the young girl started practicing with the air rifle team at West Springfield High School and won air rifle state championship in 2015. The New Jersey native was proud of her ability to compete in the Olympics and give the U.S. and opportunity to be more diverse. Team Japan, led by reigning Olympic all around gold medalist Kohei Uchimura, earned the victory, while Russian Federation placed second and 2012 Olympic champion China held on for bronze.
It was the fourth Olympics for 34-year-old veteran Du, who won the title at the same event 12 years ago in Athens, Greece.
Meanwhile Team GB won their first gold of the games through Adam Peaty, who set another new world record on his way to winning the men’s 100m Breaststroke.
It wasn’t long before Thrasher was shooting precociously, overtaking the far more experienced. Staring down the target, she posted just the sixth-best score in the morning qualifying round but benefited from a key rule change at these Rio Games: For the first time at an Olympics, scores reset after qualifying and shooters enter the finals with a clean slate. The medals are fantastic.
“It’s been a pretty insane 24 hours”, she said. “I was very focused on my breathing”. Du finished with one point behind Thrasher, while Yi ended the event with 185.4 points, reports Xinhua.
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“Halfway through the finals, it became apparent to me that I am contending for a medal”, thrasher highlighted. “It went from waking up at 5 a.m. (Saturday), doing all my prematch routines and then getting on the bus and going to the range and shooting what was a very hard qualification round for me and having a final that was just an honor to be a part of”.
