The United States brought home its first Gold Medal of the Zika Rio Olympics when 19-year-old Ginny Thrasher, a student at the West Virginia University won the Women’s 10-meter air rifle event.
American shooter Ginny Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics, pulling off an upset in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event Saturday morning.
Thrasher, 19, beat silver medalist Du Li of China in the final round with a total of 208.0, setting an Olympic record in the finals. Du finished with 207.0.
Yi Siling of China took bronze as the first medals in Rio were awarded.
Thrasher wasn’t one of the favorites to win a medal coming into the Olympics.
Earlier in the week, Thrasher commented on how the rabid frenzy of the flying monkeys of gun control have made her sport much more difficult
“Some of the (controversy surrounding) gun laws in America is just distracting from our sport, which is very different,” Thrasher said.
The sport of shooting has become caught up in discussions over gun rights and the associated political debate. 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. Rhode is an outspoken member of the National Rifle Association and previously spoke on the matter at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Congrats to Ginny Thrasher for bringing home a Gold.
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