The precocious 19-year-old closed out the summer with her biggest surprise yet.
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A native of Springfield, Virginia, Thrasher won her first career medal with an Olympic record 208.0 final total, edging China’s Li Du, who finished second with a 207.0 mark. “I’m very thankful to be able to be here four years later”.
The youngest of three with two older brothers, Virginia Thrasher wouldn’t have imagined winning the first gold at Rio a year ago. Thrasher shot a deer with her first shot at that hunting trip, which was also her first, the AP noted. And there has been the avalanche of congratulations from Virginia, West Virginia and the rest of the country.
The freshman won national titles in both small-bore and air rifle during the NCAA championships in March.
As she continues to develop and hone her skills, she will grow into more worldwide spotlight.
“Some of the [controversy surrounding] gun laws in America is just distracting from our sport, which is very different”, Thrasher said.
She opened the elimination finals – a new format in this year’s Olympics – with a ideal 10.9 and was in the lead after Scherer became the first shooter knocked out. Scherer has had problems with her back and will be retiring after her time in Rio.
Daria Vdovina from Russis hit straight good shots to climb to the Top after 10 shots, but the 9.2 in the 13th shot pulled her down to end the match at the 5th place.
“I think I knew it was realistic for me to make finals, but I was not focused on that”, she said. Defending Olympic championn Yi Siling, also of China, took the bronze medal.
WOMEN FIRST: France won the first game of rugby at the Olympics in 92 years and the first ever for the women beating Spain 24-7 to kick off the six-day sevens tournament. Shortly thereafter, her score of 10.4 was enough to surpass Li’s final shot of 10.1.
The 19-year-old Springfield, Va. native is now the proud owner of an Olympic gold medal, the surprising victor of the women’s 10-meter air rifle competition Saturday.
“I couldn’t stop myself from looking at the standings time and again”, she added.
“The adrenaline rush was incredible”, Thrasher said. There are more than 300 titles on offer over the next fortnight at the 2016 Olympics.
There’s nothing wrong with competing in shooting sports, and Trasher should be praised rather than mocked online for her accomplishment.
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The sport of shooting has become caught up in discussions over gun rights and the associated political debate. Her teammate, Kim Rhode, has been even more outspoken for years.
