Ginny Trasher is only 19 years old, and she already won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics. She started shooting rifle five years ago when suddenly felt interested in deer hunting. Her father took her to hunt, and that was the beginning of a shooter career that had its highest point today when she won over two Chinese shooters in the Women’s Air Rifle category.

This is the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics for the US, and Trasher won the first place due to a one-point difference with Du Li, a Chinese shooter that ended up in second place. Du Li was the favorite among the public, and bets were on her since she won the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics  Yi Siling, Chinese as well, took the bronze medal while in the 2012 London Games she won the first place.

Ginny Trasher, winner of the first gold medal at the Rio Olympics, started shooting rifle five years ago marking the beginning of a shooter career that had its highest point today when she won over two Chinese shooters in the Women's Air Rifle category. Photo credit: In USA News
Ginny Trasher, winner of the first gold medal at the Rio Olympics, started shooting rifle five years ago marking the beginning of a shooter career that had its highest point today when she won over two Chinese shooters in the Women’s Air Rifle category. Photo credit: In USA News

The surprising Ginny

Trasher was a surprise to most people in the crowd, to sports reporters and the public opinion in general since her significant international achievement before this medal was ended fourth in the World Cup in Munich. In other international competitions, she never made it to the top 5. Although, she won two times the national shooting champion with her high-school team at College Rifling Power West Virgina.

The first time Trasher explored her talent for air rifle was, actually, an accident, which led her later to feel attracted to deer hunting. Ginny told the Olympics’ Reporters for NBC that she was with her family, about five years ago, resting for lunch when a deer suddenly appeared behind them. The adrenaline rush moved Trasher to jump to her father’s rifle and shot the animal. Everyone seemed surprised, but Ginny tells that at that moment, the adrenaline she felt, made her discover her interest in rifles.

Her experience drove her to do it more professionally every time, winning dozens of national recognitions.  She will compete again on August 11 to the three-position event.

To the medalist, gun laws are distracting

When asked about the controversy surrounding gun laws in America, the athlete said some of the discussion about them are distracting people from the sport, that is very different. She tried to focus only on the competition, while Kim Rhode, Thrashers’ teammate have declared against gun laws in her state, due to the complications it generates to getting ammunition to practice for competitions.

Whether this victory will mean more debate around gun laws in the States is still unknown.

10m Air Rifle requires shooters to stand 10 meters from the target and hit it as close to the middle as possible while standing up with a caliber air rifle no heavier than 12 lb. Nancy Napolski-Johnson won this same medal in 2000 in Sydney Olympics. No American was qualified in the Men’s category for this first cut.

Sarah Scherer, another American shooter, ended eight in this first encounter. Fourth and fifth places were to German Barbara Engleder and Russian shooter, Daria Vdovina.

This discipline is part of the  International Shooting Sports Federation that hosts a world championship every four years.

Source: Fox Sports