Virginia Thrasher

Virginia "Ginny" Thrasher[4] (born February 28, 1997) is an American sports shooter[5] who won a gold medal in the women's 10 meter air rifle at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won the first gold medal awarded at the 2016 Olympics.[2][6][7]

Ginny Thrasher
Virginia Thrasher at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1997-02-28) February 28, 1997
Rome, New York[1]
EducationWest Virginia University
Height5 ft 1 in (155 cm)[2]
Weight119 lb (54 kg)[2]
Sport
Country United States
SportShooting
Event(s)
University teamWest Virginia Mountaineers
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games[3] 1 - -
World Cup Finals - - 1
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 10 m air rifle
World Cup Final
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Bologna 10 m air rifle
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Lima 50 m rifle 3 positions

Thrasher's gold medal came during the first time she had competed in the Olympics, beating two Chinese athletes, previous Olympic gold medalists Du Li and Yi Siling.[6] Thrasher's victory was considered a surprise as she had no major international competition experience prior to the 2016 Olympics.[8]

Before the 2016 Olympics, Thrasher wanted to be a figure skater. She has said she was never any good and by her freshman year of high school, she realized she had no future in it. She switched sports in 2011 after going hunting with her grandfather.[4]

Personal life
Sign at the Saratoga Giant in Springfield congratulating Thrasher on her victory

Thrasher grew up in Springfield, Virginia, and graduated from West Springfield High School in 2015. She is the daughter of Roger and Valerie Thrasher and has older two brothers. She graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University in 2019, where she majored in biomedical engineering.[9][10][11][12]

Thrasher serves on the athlete advisory team for Country Roads Trust, a West Virginia-based company formed in 2022 to help student-athletes take advantage of their new ability to monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness. Other WVU alumni on the advisory team include former NBA player Jerry West, former NFL player Pat McAfee, and gymnast Jaida Lawrence Hart.[13]

2016 Rio Olympics

10m air rifle

Thrasher received the first gold medal awarded at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She qualified 6th in the first round of the women's 10m air rifle competition with a score of 416.3. She went on to win the final of that event with an Olympic Record score of 208.0, one point ahead of silver medalist Du Li of China.

50m rifle three positions

Thrasher missed the finals of the 50m rifle three positions by one point, finishing with a score of 581.

College career

Ginny Thrasher was a member of the West Virginia University Rifle Team from 2015-2019. During that time, she earned twelve All-American Honors as well as two NCAA individual titles and two team NCAA team titles.[14]

References
  1. "First Olympic gold medal in Rio goes to shooter born in Rome". Rome Sentinel. August 6, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  2. "Virginia Thrasher". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  3. "Virginia Thrasher wins first gold medal of Rio Olympics for USA in 10m air rifle". Guardian sport. The Guardian. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  4. "Ginny Thrasher: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". heavy.com. August 6, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  5. "ISSF Athlete Profile". ISSF. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  6. "Rio 2016 / USA's Virginia Thrasher wins first gold of Rio Olympics". sportscafe.in.
  7. "Virginia Thrasher wins first gold of Rio Olympics". The Times of India. August 6, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  8. OlympicTalk (February 10, 2020). "First four U.S. shooters qualify for Olympics". OlympicTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  9. "Ginny Thrasher". Team USA. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  10. "Shooter Virginia Thrasher wins first U.S. gold at Rio Olympics". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  11. "Rifle - WVU Athletics". wvusports.com. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  12. Writer, by DAVE FACINOLI, Staff. "Local shooters take aim at winning Olympic medals". insidenova.com. Retrieved August 6, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. Pritt, Ryan (January 21, 2022). "Country Roads Trust aims to help WVU keep pace on NIL". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  14. "Ginny Thrasher | USA Shooting". www.usashooting.org. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
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