Ginny Thrasher just won gold at the 2016 Olympics. And not just any gold. She won *the first* gold medal that could be awarded at the Olympics. And she won it so commandingly, setting an Olympic Finals Record, that she leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind that 2016 is the Year of Thrasher.
The kind of win Ginny just experienced gives me chills. Ginny won both NCAA rifle titles as a freshman, which was unprecedented. She won the smallbore rifle Olympic trials less than a month later. In June she added a national air rifle title to her resume and notched some top 10 international finishes. Despite all this, at age 19, on the Olympic stage she is a rookie. An underdog. No one expected her to win. She beat the top-ranked shooter in the world (Andrea Arsovic of Serbia) in this event to qualify for finals, which seats the top eight scores of the qualifying round against each other in what amounts to a single elimination match for the medal. She kept her cool during the incredibly stressful finals, watching her USA teammate fall out of the pack, along with shooters from Iran, Russia, and Germany until it was just Ginny and two formidable opponents in the top three. Defending Olympic champ Yi Siling and former Olympic champ Du Li trailed behind Ginny in points, but their collective experience and accomplishments might have put pressure on any lesser competitor to make their nerves break during the final shots of the match.
Read the rest of this in-depth look at what goes on to get to the Olympics, and Ginny Thrasher’s performance today: http://www.howtogungirl.com/blog/2016/8/6/follow-through-why-i-love-the-olympics-part-2
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
