Virginia Thrasher
of the United States won the first Gold medal handed out at the Rio Olympics
for finishing in first place in the women's 10-meter air rifle** event Saturday morning.Thrasher, beat Du Li in the final round with a total
score of 208.0, setting an Olympic record. Du Li finished with 207.0.
It is somewhat surprising, then, to discover
that the first gold medallist of the 2016 Olympics was a beaming, unflappable
teenager who has to get the first flight back after the Games so she can be in
class. Thrasher is 19 years old, a biomedical engineering student at West
Virginia University, and as well as claiming the first medal of these Olympics
in the women’s 10m air rifle, engineered the first real shock as well.
Defeat can be
crushing. Germany’s Barbara Engleder was in silver medal position after 15
shots, but after her 16th shot, a 10.2, she dropped to fourth place and was
eliminated. It is all about Medals. An Olympic medal is awarded to successful
competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal:
gold, awarded to the winner; silver, awarded to the 1st runner-up; and bronze,
awarded to the 2nd runner-up. The granting of awards is laid out in detail in
the Olympic protocols. Medal designs have varied considerably since the first
Olympic Games in 1896, particularly in size and weight.
A gold medal is the
highest medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name
derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or
alloying in its manufacture. While some
gold medals are solid gold, others are gold-plated or silver-gilt, like those
of the Olympic Games.. .. .. so Olympic Gold is not actually a gold medal !! –
the winners at the 1900 Olympics
received trophies or cups instead of medals. The custom of awarding gold,
silver, and bronze medals started at the 1904 Olympics. After the 1912 Olympics
the gold medals have been gilded silver rather than real gold. The specific
composition and design of Olympic medals is determined by the host city's
organizing committee. However, certain standards must be maintained:
• Gold and silver medals are 92.5%
silver.
• Gold medals must be plated with at
least 6 grams of gold.
• All Olympic medals must be at least 3
mm thick and at least 60 mm in diameter.
·
Bronze medals are bronze, an alloy
of copper and usually tin.
Now about the Australian with large frame of glass - Mackenzie 'Mack' Horton scored Australia's first gold medal win of the Rio Olympics, storming home to win the 400m freestyle on the Games' opening day. The 20-year-old from Malvern, Victoria touched just ahead of China's defending champion Sun Yang to propel himself into Australia's Olympic history books.
The short-sighted
swimmer needs thick prescription goggles to compete as his eyesight is bad and
he was earlier scared of water.
Although he narrowly missed out on selection
for the London 2012 Olympics, finishing second in the 1,500 metres freestyle
trial, he has made impressive strides since. In 2013 at the World Junior
Championships in Dubai he took an incredible five gold medals and five
championship records.
The Indian flag
bearer stands tall - Abhinav Singh Bindra, the shooter is a World and Olympic
champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle
event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an
individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. It was also India's first gold medal since
1980, when the Men's Field Hockey Team won the gold.
Abhinav won Gold Medal in2014 Commonwealth
Games at Glasgow too.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
7th Aug
2016.
News & pic
credit : www.abc.net.au/news
