At age 19, Thrasher became the third-youngest U.S. women’s shooting medalist, the third U.S. shooter to win the women’s 10-meter air rifle and the first since Nancy Napolski-Johnson won in 2000.
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China’s defending champion Yi Siling could only finish with bronze.
It’s been remarkable year of success for Thrasher, who won the NCAA’s air rifle title as a freshman in March as a member of WVU’s rifle team. The event in which she won gold is the first “international shooting competition” in which she has taken part. Her best record on global stage before the Rio Olympics is the fourth place at the ISSF World Cup in Munich earlier this year. She spent the next morning touring her parents and two older brothers around the village before more media requirements. The event started with USA’s Sarah Scherer lagging behind with an average performance and she was hence eliminated after 8 rounds with a tally of 78.6 points.
-BOUNCED: Venus Williams, playing her opening match at her record fifth Olympics, lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to Kristen Flipkens of Belgium.
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.
Thrasher shot 10.5 on her first shot of the final elimination round and smiled after 10.4 on her second shot put her comfortably ahead of China’s Li Du. So congrats to Thrasher, a teenager who’s been dominant on the American rifle scene and has now made her mark on the worldwide stage.
“Going into the last shot, I was just trying to shoot a 10.0 because I knew that’s what I needed”, she said.
She finished with 208 points, one clear of 2004 Athens champion Du.
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Rhode told press, “I shoot 500 to 1,000 rounds a day, having to do a background check every time I purchase ammo or when I bring ammo out for a competition or a match – those are very, very challenging for me”. Rugby sevens, the fast-pace, condensed form of the game, is the format for the sport’s return to the Olympic program for the first time since 1924, when the USA men won gold in the 15-a-side tournament.
