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 Ginny Thrasher (USA) celebrates winning the gold medal in the 10-meter air rifle competition at Olympic Shooting Centre on Aug, 6, (Photo: Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports) 
 
 RIO DE JANEIRO — American shooter Ginny Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics, pulling off an upset in the women's 10-meter air rifle event Saturday morning. 
 
 Thrasher, 19, beat silver medalist Du Li of China in the final round with a total of 208.0, setting an Olympic record in the finals. Du finished with 207.0. 
 
 Yi Siling of China took bronze as the first medals in Rio were awarded. 
 
 Thrasher wasn't one of the favorites to win a medal coming into the Olympics. 
 
 "I think I knew it was realistic for me to make finals, but I was not focused on that," she said. "I was focusing on just shooting the best that I could, and that got me there." 
 
 She is an NCAA champion at West Virginia competing in her first Olympics. The American was up against a deep field that included Du, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Andrea Arsovic of Serbia, who is ranked No. 1 in the world and failed to advance to the final. Yi won Olympic gold in the 2012 London Games. 
 
 American Sarah Scherer was eighth. 
 
 Men's 10m Air Pistol, Qualification 
 
 Men's 10m Air Pistol, Final 
 
 Women's 10m Air Pistol, Qualification 
 
 The gold is the third won by the United States in women's air rifle, the first since Nancy Napolski-Johnson won in 2000. 
 
 WVU shooter and new Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher's medal bonus will increase from $55K if U.S. shooting team wins more medals in Rio — Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) August 6, 2016 
 
 Thrasher, who was on her high school rifle team, will also compete in the three-position event Aug. 11. Coming into the Olympics, her best finish at a World Cup was fourth in Munich this year. 
 
 She'll go back to West Virginia, where she will be a sophomore. "I get home 20 hours before the first class. So I’ll be in physics at 8:30 a.m." ||||| By Chris Lawrence in Outdoors, Sports, WVU Sports | August 04, 2016 at 12:54PM 
 
 USA Shooting Ginny Thrasher 
 
 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Five years ago, Springfield, Virginia native Ginny Thrasher had never picked up a gun. Out of curiosity, she asked her dad and granddad to take her deer hunting. During her first hunt, she killed a whitetail and credits the thrill of the experience for getting her interested in the shooting sports. 
 
 Today, the 19 year old Thrasher is the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team and will compete for Team USA starting Saturday in Rio to complete a story book year. 
 
 “It has been an amazing year,” she said. “It’s the year you dream of when you enter college.” 
 
 As a freshman member of the WVU Rifle Team Thrasher won the individual NCAA Championships in both small bore and air rifle and led her team to a fourth straight and 18th overall NCAA title. She’s the first freshman to ever sweep both titles at the NCAA match. She went to Olympic Team Trials three weeks later and pulled out a decisive victory in the Three-Position event over a seasoned and talented field. She earned a nine-point win having never competed in the event internationally. With her Olympic spot secure, Ginny went on to win four medals and three national titles at the 2016 USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle/Pistol at Fort Benning, Georgia. She added top 10 finishes at World Cup shooting events in Munich and Rio as a tune up for the Olympics. 
 
 “I think for me, this is just the next step,” said Thresher when asked about the big stage of the Olympics. “I’m just putting one foot in front of the other, and this is the next opportunity for me. I’m actually really excited after that to start my second collegiate season.” 
 
 Thrasher will shoot Saturday morning in the women’s air rifle event, the first competition of the Olympic Games. 
 
 “I’ll be competing in the very first event of the Olympics, and then five days later on the 11th is the second event, women’s smallbore,” she said. “I’ll return home and 20 hours later I’ll start my sophomore year at WVU.” 
 
 Thrasher will forgo opening ceremonies on Friday night with an early wake up call for Saturday morning’s air rifle event. While most members of Team USA will soak in the party-like atmosphere, Ginny will be getting her game face on. 
 
 “The day of opening ceremonies we have official training and it’s going to be very serious. That’s when all of the distractions will be over and I can completely focus on my match,” she said. “But at the same time, I want to go down there, have fun, and enjoy the experience.” 
 
 The side stories of the upcoming games have been the conditions, the pollution, and the threat of disease like Zika. Thrasher wasn’t worried. 
 
 “For me, it’s not really a concern. Every time the Olympics come around they get a little worked up about some of the things that could happen. I commend Brazil for doing their best to put on a great show. I think it’s going to go off really well,” said Thrasher. “As for the Zika virus, we run more risk in getting on the plane to go down there.” 
 
 The Olympics in Rio is a long way from her granddaddy’s deer stand, but Thrasher’s easy going attitude shined through when asked if this was the biggest match of her life. 
 
 “It is so far.” she laughed. “It’s just about being able to go there and no matter how big the competition, perform the best that I can. Obviously what I’ve been doing has been having some success, so as long as I keep doing what I’m doing, working hard, and keep loving the sport, it can’t get anything but better.” 
 
 Thrasher won’t be the only West Virginia ties to the Olympic shooting sports. Former Mountaineer shooters Nicco Campriani and Petra Zublasing will shoot for Italy, Ziva Dvorsak for Slovenia, and Dave Johnson is a member of the Team USA coaching staff. ||||| From the section 
 
 Media playback is not supported on this device US teenager wins first gold of Rio 2016 
 
 Olympic Games on the BBC Hosts: Rio de Janeiro Dates: 5-21 August Rio time: BST -4 Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, Red Button and up to 24 HD video streams on mobile, desktop, connected TVs and app, plus follow on Radio 5 live and via live text commentary. 
 
 America's Ginny Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympic Games with a surprise victory in the women's 10m air rifle. 
 
 The 19-year-old secured her first major international victory, scoring 208.0 to leave China's 2006 world champion Du Li with silver. 
 
 Du's compatriot Yi Siling, the defending champion, took bronze. 
 
 Jen McIntosh secured the best-ever finish for a British woman - 15th out of 51 in the qualification round. 
 
 The five-time Commonwealth medallist overcame a rifle malfunction to produce a strong finish and was just 1.2 points from securing a place in the final. 
 
 She will return to compete in her favoured 50m rifle three positions event on Thursday. 
 
 Find out how to get into shooting with our special guide.
– The first gold medal of the Rio Olympics went to a 19-year-old college sophomore from Virginia. Ginny Thrasher placed first in the women's 10-meter air rifle, the first event of these games, on Saturday, USA Today reports. Thrasher is competing in her first Olympics and—according to West Virginia MetroNews—only started shooting five years ago after asking her father and grandfather to take her deer hunting. To get the gold, Thrasher beat out two Chinese competitors, including defending champion Yi Siling, the BBC reports. It's the first major international win for Thrasher, who also won the NCAA title this year competing for West Virginia University. The Olympic champion will be home in less than a week to start her sophomore year of college.