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USA TODAY Sports photographers capture the most memorable sights from Rio's Opening Ceremony. USA TODAY Sports
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<span style="color: Red;">*</span>first gold medal of the Rio Olympics, pulling off an upset<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the women's 10-meter air rifle event Saturday morning.
Thrasher,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>19,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>beat silver medalist<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Du Li of China<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the final round with a total of 208.0, setting an Olympic record<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the finals. Du finished with 207.0.
Yi Siling<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of China took bronze as the first medals in Rio were awarded.
Thrasher<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is an NCAA champion at West Virginia competing in her first Olympics. She wasn't the favorite coming in as Du won gold at the 2004 Athens<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Olympics. Andrea Arsovic of Serbia is ranked No. 1 in the world and failed to advance to the final. Yi won Olympic gold in the 2012 London Games.
American<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sarah Scherer was eighth.
The gold is the third won<span style="color: Red;">*</span>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,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>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.
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