Gold medal winner Ginny Thrasher gives us something to cheer for

Thrasher watches the American flag go up as she stands atop the medal stand in Rio
Thrasher watches the American flag go up as she stands atop the medal stand in Rio

So you just won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics. What’s next?  If you are Ginny Thrasher you stow that medal in its handsome wooden case and travel back to Morgantown, making sure you are not late for the 8:30 a.m. physics class to begin your sophomore year at WVU.

WVU has the most successful rifle team in the country with four consecutive national championships.  However, shooters are less well known than the back-up left guard on the football team.

That will likely change when Thrasher hits town again. The 19-year-old biomedical engineering student from Springfield, Virginia shot to international notoriety faster than a bullet fired from her black Feinwerkbau 700 air rifle when she captured the first gold medal of the games.

It didn’t hurt that she made a perfect score of 10.9 on her first shot in the 10-meter air rifle competition, set an Olympic record with her final score and, in the process, bested two previous medal winners from China.

What followed was a whirlwind of media attention and interviews, but she kept her cool—perhaps using breathing and relaxation techniques vital to competitive shooters—and handled  the spotlight with poise, even when a reporter tried to compare her underdog story with a donkey winning the Kentucky Derby.

“I would disagree with your statement,” Thrasher firmly, but gracefully answered. “To anyone who truly knew me as an athlete and has been with me throughout my career, I don’t think it was that surprising.”

Bullseye.

Thrasher missed out on a second medal opportunity in the three-position small-bore event, narrowly missing the final round.  “It was disappointing to be one point out of the finals and not making it,” she told me on MetroNews Talkline Friday. “But in the end, I think I did the best I could.”

The Olympic medal caps a wildly successful year for Thrasher. She won the NCAA championships in both the small-bore and air rifle competitions, becoming the first freshman to do so, and took home medals from U.S. Nationals.

Thrasher hopes her success will bring more attention to competitive shooting.  “We’re never going to be this huge spectator sport like some others,” she said. “But to have more people understand and appreciate our sport is a great thing.”

Thrasher always seems to answer questions in a thoughtful but not rehearsed way, as though it would never occur to her to be sarcastic or insincere.  “Standing on that podium, hearing the national anthem and watching our red, white and blue flag be raised was just an amazing moment,” she said. “To know that your state, all the states, and the entire country are behind you in that moment is very gratifying.”

But then again, it’s easy to cheer for Ginny Thrasher.

 

 

 





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