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Rio Olympics: Va. native Ginny Thrasher brings home first gold for Team USA

Posted at 5:38 PM, Aug 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-07 17:41:14-04

The first gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has gone to an American teenager.

Ginny Thrasher, a 19-year-old West Virginia University sophomore who is from Springfield, Va., won the women’s 10-meter air rifle event on Saturday morning at the Olympic Shooting Center in Deodoro, Brazil, edging out silver medalist Du Li of China.

Thrasher’s score of 208 set a record for a final round in an Olympics. She was one point ahead of Du Li, who won a gold medal in 2004.

China’s Yi Siling took the bronze with a score of 185.4.

It’s been remarkable year of success for Thrasher, who won the NCAA’s air rifle title as a freshman in March as a member of WVU’s rifle team.