On Wednesday, May 9, Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher qualified for her first Final since 2016 at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup for Rifle and Pistol at Fort Benning, GA. Thrasher’s last shot in the Final was a 10.8—not enough to overcome the lead put forth by the eventual Chinese medalists—leaving Thrasher with a respectable fifth place finish.
The World Cup opened with the women’s 10m air rifle event. Thrasher qualified for the Final in seventh place with a score of 627.4. Subsequently, silver medalist Yingjie Zhu of China posted a world-record qualification score of 633.4, showcasing the extremely talented field at this World Cup.
“I feel like lately I’ve had really good technique, good equipment and really good positions, but I feel like it hasn’t translated yet to the matches,” Thrasher told USA Shooting. “I felt like today was a great step in the right direction to just let go and perform. I did the right things, I came off the line, and when I got back I fixed my NPA and went back shooting the best I could. Found that rhythm and ended up shooting really deep [high, 10-point scores] for a long time.”
Thrasher summed up the Final event with her usual positive attitude and patriotism, noting the significance of her performance with other international athletes on her country’s home field.
“In the Final, I felt like I had good technique and I was executing well, but it was very, very competitive,” said Thrasher. “I was shooting a lot of 10s, just most of them weren’t quite deep enough. You’re in a Final, you get nervous and your hold gets bigger.”
She continued: “I’m really excited to be in that position more, [to] be in more Finals and work on it, but I think I handled it very well. You’re competing against the best athletes in the world and I’m just happy to be there. Being able to do that on home turf in the USA is an amazing feeling too. It has a little different feel of an international World Cup, but it’s so great to be here.”
Lead photo by Nicolo Zangirolami/ISSF
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