Aged just 19, shooter Virginia Thrasher of the USA, hailing from Springfield, Virginia, surged into the record books as the first gold medallist of the Rio Olympics 2016. What is worth noting is that, despite having proved herself in her country, she was never considered a favourite for the gold.
She competed in the women’s 10m Air Rifle final with two Chinese legends – Li Du and Yi Siling – both former Olympic champions and front-runners for the yellow metal. Yet, it was the teenager who emerged victorious in a tale of David vs Goliath that made Virginia Thrasher a top worldwide trending topic on Twitter for four hours!
Here are 10 things that will help you to know the youngster better for whom shooting wasn’t the first love:
1. Born to Roger and Valerie Thrasher, Virginia or Ginny initially harboured dreams of being an Olympic figure skater and diligently practised at Fairfax Ice Arena as she pursued one of the biggest goals of her life.
2. But as she grew up, she realized that the sport she was initially attracted to, was not meant for her. It was an early morning hunting trip with her father and grandfather during her ninth grade that changed everything. Despite not being acquainted with hunting, the instinct that she showed in pulling the trigger and taking down a deer surprised her family members. That one moment gave her a thrill that she had never experienced before.
"The adrenaline rush was incredible," Thrasher said of that life-changing moment.
3. That made her fall in love with the sport and she quickly started training with the air rifle team at the West Springfield High School. She soon met with success and secured the third place at the 2014 Junior Olympic Championships.
4. Her improvements had been tremendous and she captured five medals at the 2015 USA Shooting National Championships that included a gold medal in 50m three positions, a silver in 10m air rifle and a bronze in 50m prone. That earned her a prized berth in the USA national team at the age of 18.
5. She had been in impeccable form coming to Rio and became the first freshman to clinch individual titles in both smallborne and air rifle at the 2016 NCAA Rifle Championships. Her fabulous display also propelled the NCAA shooting behemoths West Virginia University to their 18th team title.
6. In her Olympic debut, she pulled off a stunner in the women’s 10m air rifle event. 2004 Air Rifle Olympic Champion Du Li and the 2012 champion Yi Siling, both of China, were vying for the gold and the former had even set a new 10m Air Rifle Women World Record with 420.7 points during the qualifications.
Yet, Thrasher was unfazed. Defying the odds, she shot 10.9 in her very first attempt in the final en route to mustering a cumulative score of 208.0 that set a new Final Olympic Record. That edged out the strong favourites Du and Siling who scored 207.0 and 185.4 points respectively to take the silver and bronze.
7. Her focus and concentration under pressure are unrivalled and that is why it is not a surprise that she was able to shoot so confidently at such a big event with two former Olympic champions breathing down her neck. Her rifle coach at the West Virginia University, Jon Hammond – a two-time Commonwealth Games champion for Great Britain – had praised her in an interview last month.
“When it comes to anything that's a challenge — a test, a competition, training — it's very easy for her to dial in that concentration.”
8. She herself had admitted that she doesn’t attach extra importance to mega-events such as the Olympics. She only knew that she loved shooting and that definitely helped her relax. Needless to say, there is a lot to learn from her attitude.
“I didn’t really care much about the Olympics,” Thrasher said. “I knew shooting was an Olympic sport, but I never really thought, ‘Oh, I want to go to the Olympics in shooting.’ I was just shooting because I loved shooting,” she revealed.
9. She is currently ranked 23 in the world and her best performance at an ISSF World Cup so far had been a fourth position at the 50m three position at the 2016 ISSF Munich World Cup.
10. Thrasher is currently a sophomore in engineering at the West Virginia University and will graduate in 2019.
