She will return to classes at West Virginia only 20 hours after returning to the US on August 17.
Advertisement
The young athlete scored big for the U.S. Olympic shooting team when she beat out China’s Du Li and Yu Siling (who won silver and bronze, respectively) and set a record of 208.0 at the air rifle event.
“Everything was awesome. It was the only thing I ever wanted was to compete in the Olympics”, said the 18-year-old, who is representing the Games’ first ever refugee team. “I knew it was a realistic expectation for me to get into the finals and once you get into the finals, anything can happen”. “I’ve watched her and her sister play tennis since they were 12 or 13 and just change the game”.
Van Avermaet out-sprinted Jakob Fuglsang and Rafal Majka on the long run to the finish at sun-splashed Copacabana Beach after Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali and Colombia’s Sergio Henao crashed while trying to navigate a corner on the final harrowing descent of the 6-hour race. Ledecky also holds the world-record in the 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyle events. The win marked the first medal awarded at these Rio Games and also the first big upset.
Thrasher was not expected to be among the top five scorers – all that counts in NCAA competition – at shooting powerhouse West Virginia, yet got better as the season progressed.
19-year-old Virginia native Ginny Thrasher has won the first gold medal for Team USA.
USA women’s teams picked up right where they left off four years ago in London, where American women won 63% of all US gold medals and 56% of all US medals total. She enjoyed it and joined her high school air riffle team.
When the eight best shooters returned to the competition field for the finals, no one stood a chance.
“I’m so happy to start off Rio 2016 with a gold medal for my country”, she said.
Thrasher added that her average during qualification was slightly above a 10.4.
Yi was bang in contention to successfully defend her 2012 crown but sharp shooting saw Thrasher and Du go head to head, with the American, displaying maturity beyond her years, edging it on the final shot.
Thrasher finished a point ahead of two-time gold medalist Li Du of China. Yi earned air rifle gold at the 2012 London Games just three years after starting her worldwide shooting career.
Advertisement
In the final, each athlete had three shots in each of the first two rounds, and then two shots in additional eliminating rounds until Thrasher and Du were left in the ninth and final round. Thrasher’s teammate, six-time Olympian Kim Rhode, spoke earlier this week about how new gun measures in her state of California had affected her training because she must complete extensive background checks to buy ammunition for practice. Many competing in the Olympics are either in, or about to become part of, the third generation of women to compete at the college level since the law was passed.
