Olympic Gold Medalist Ginny Thrasher Is More American Than You and Me

Virginia Thrasher, better known as, "Ginny Thrasher" won the first Gold Medal of the 2016 Rio Olympic games. She cemented herself as more American that any of us will ever be.

Thrasher, 19, outlasted 50 competitors in yesterday mornings qualifying 10-meter air rifle round. She then took down two time Gold Medal winner (2004, 2008) Li Du of China in the Final round by a full point. China's 2012 London Olympics Gold Medalist Yi Siling won the Bronze Medal.

Thrasher, a native of Springfield, Virginia, got into shooting five years ago in the most American way possible while hunting with her grandfather. At the time, she was hoping to become a Gold Medal winner in figure skating.

The story goes that her hunting group stopped to eat when her father informed Ginny there was a deer behind her. She picked up a rifle, used a tree to steady her shot, and took down the deer.

The adrenaline rush had her wanting more so she started shooting with the air rifle team at West Springfield High School in Virginia.

This past season at WVU she became the first Freshman ever to sweep both NCAA individual air rifle titles while being the catalyst to the Mountaineers winning a fourth straight rifle National Championship.

A few months later she became the first American to win the first Gold Medal at an Olympic games since 2000 and the third ever 10-meter air rifle United States Gold Medalist.

With a name like Ginny Thrasher, it's no doubt that she is taking the US, and the world, by storm. The only way her story about getting into shooting would be more American is if she was shotgunning a Budweiser America can wearing an American flag tank top and swimming trunks draped in an American flag while taking down that deer in one shot.

Being a collegiate National Champion and winning the first Gold Medal of an Olympic games in a competition involving guns beating two Chinese competitors proves just as American.