The torch was lit and the fireworks burst in the air as the opening ceremony marked an official start to the Summer Olympics this past Friday night in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The first gold medal of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games was not only from Team U.S.A., but a college student.
Ginny Thrasher, a sophomore at West Virginia University, clinched the first gold medal of the Olympic Games in the women’s 10-meter air rifle Saturday morning. The 19-year-old quickly became a NCAA champion in her freshman year at WVU.
It wasn’t a well-known athlete like Serena Williams or Michael Phelps who brought in that first gold for Team U.S.A. but a college athlete. Thrasher is a young student and is one out of 554 representing the U.S.A. in this Olympics.
With the fall semester approaching, Thrasher tells USA Today, "I get home 20 hours before the first class. So I'll be in physics at 8:30 a.m."
She may be superwoman. Unlike the rest of us, she won't just be your average college student. She'll be a sophomore with a Gold medal.
On her shooting team she was one of 20 athletes. Du Li and Yi Siling of China won the silver and bronze medals in this event. Thrasher’s teammate, Sarah Scherer, of Massachusetts, placed 8th.
The diversity of the Olympic Games is extreme. There is a large amount of young athletes some as young as 16 years old competing for Gold.
Four of the 'Final Five' U.S. gymnastics team is under 21 years old. If you turn on a swimming event, there's a chance you can find a 30-year-old competing alongside a 19-year-old. The hard work that goes into training and qualifying for such an elite competition like the Olympics is outstanding, especially for a 16-year-old like Gymnast Laurie Hernandez.
In just a few short minutes of an Olympic event, the audience understands: anything is possible.
Tune into the Summer Olympics to catch more U.S.A. wins until the closing ceremony August 21st.
