Shooting for gold: Teenager wins Team USA's first medal at the Rio Olympics in the women's 10-meter air rifle event
Ginny
Thrasher, 19, has ushered in the gold for Team USA in an upset that saw
two Chinese competitors take silver and bronze in the women's 10-meter
air rifle event.
The
teenager from Springfield, Virginia, defeated Du Li and Yi Siling with a
total score of 208.0, setting an Olympic record in the finals.
Thrasher,
who wanted to become an Olympic figure skater when she was a kid, fired
her first gun just five years ago during a hunting excursion with her
grandfather.
Thrasher emerged from the pack of 50 women in the qualifying round with seven other competitors in the finals.
Athletes
stand 10 meters from the target and attempt to hit the bullseye for a
maximum score of 10.9, which Thrasher received early on qualifying
round.
The teen faced tough competition, but came out a full point ahead of 34-year-old veteran Li, who won gold in the event in 2004.
Bronze medalist Yi was the defending gold champion from 2012.
Thrasher's
coach, Jon Hammond, acknowledged the teen's steely resolve, saying:
'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,' NBC reported.
The engineering major at West Virginia University said: 'What's most attractive of rifle is the mental side of the sport.
'Anyone can go and hit a 10, it's not that hard. To go and shoot 10 after 10 after 10 in a big event is very hard.
'You
have to have a mastery of the mental side, controlling your emotions,
following your process and not thinking about the outcome,' Thrasher
said.
Boxer Carlos
Balderas defeated Berik Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan with a close 29-28
unanimous points decision from the judges, moving on to face Japan's
Daisuke Narimatsu on Tuesday.
The US men's water polo team came out to a rough start, losing to Croatia this morning, 5-7.
The
13-strong team, which includes nine newcomers, won silver in the 2008
Beijing Olympics, but came in a disappointing eighth in 2012.
For
Secretary of State John Kerry, the Olympics aren't just about winning -
although he did express high hopes for athletes at the training
facility on Friday.
'Not
only are we expecting all of you breaking some records, but we want you
to contribute in the great American tradition of the spirit of
competition and the values of our country,' he told athletes training
at Brazil's Naval Academy.
'Break barriers. Find a different way to resolve the differences between us,' he added.
Kerry
dropped by Copacabana for beach volleyball's opening match between
Italy and Austria, after watching the start of the men's cycling road
race final.
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