Du finished with one point behind Thrasher, while Yi ended the event with 185.4 points.
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The numbers were far lower than the last Olympic Games, even considering Rio provided more convenient time zones compared to London four years ago or Beijing in 2008.
A dozen gold medals were at stake on the first day of competition hours after Brazil’s high-energy opening party featured thumping funk, sultry samba and supermodel Gizele Bundchen shimmering to the tune of “The Girl from Ipanema”.
“I was just trying to shoot the best I could for my first Olympics experience coming without any medal”. Her best record on worldwide stage before the Rio Olympics is the fourth place at the ISSF World Cup in Munich earlier this year.
“When I was in eighth grade my grandfather took me hunting”, she said. And we had women who, in ’76 and the ’80s and ’90s, dreamed of being in the Olympics and never got that opportunity, but made sure it happened for us. “For me, this year has been incredible”.
Thrasher was not expected to be in the top five.
Thrasher once admitted that she competed in the shooting competition not to win an award, but instead, she joined the sport because she loves it.
Virginia Thrasher has a gold medal, but it won’t get her a pass with her physics professor.
Before she secured a spot on Team USA for the Olympic trials, the engineering major student helped the WVU Mountaineers win their fourth consecutive NCAA team championship.
Once in Rio, she didn’t flinch at the spotlight – or an air horn.
Sarah Scherer of MA, back from retirement after back surgery, finished eighth. It combines patriotism with perfection, and I still remember how the world has seen superstars emerge from the remnants of many a Game and then gone on to become icons. Now she’s the best in the world.
The event will be tape-delayed and broadcast at EDT on NBC. She also competed in the 2012 London Games and pulled off a clutch shot in the Rio final, hitting 10.9 to stay alive in the second round.
“This is very special for me”, Thrasher added. “What they’ve done for women’s sports, to me, is just wonderful”. “I also looked up and saw that Virginia and Du Li were doing well themselves”.
“I’m actually looking forward to getting back to school again”, Thrasher said.
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Randhir Singh is held in great respect and this will augur well for the latest Indian entrant into the hallowed portals of the International Olympic Committee, Nita Ambani, who in her own wonderful way has given many sports in India a genuine fillip and something that will redefine the sporting landscape of India.
