MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University rifle head coach Jon Hammond and sophomore and 2016 Rio Olympic Gold Medalist Ginny Thrasher met with the media on Wednesday, August 17, 2016, at the Basketball Practice Facility Media Room.
Opening Statement
Jon Hammond:
Welcome everyone. This is obviously a really special media conference to do. This is just a great occasion. From sitting here however many months ago that it was with Ginny making the Olympic team, obviously this is a very different conference to do.
Just a few words from me. We are, obviously, amazingly proud of what Ginny was able to accomplish. Not just down in Rio but really the whole last 12 months. The start of her WVU career has been incredible. You guys, I’m sure, will have a ton of questions for her about the experience. I’m definitely very proud for myself, the team and the whole University of not just Ginny but also Nicco (Campriani) and the success that he had. I think the other special thing, for me anyway, was the response. The fact that Ginny’s medal was the very first medal of the Games has been an incredible response. The extra attention that that brought I think was incredible. It was really far reaching, not just in West Virginia, not just in the U.S., but all around the world. That actually was great not just for Ginny, the team and WVU, but for the sport of rifle and shooting as well. It got so much great publicity for it so with that I will open up the questions and probably hear from Ginny.
PHOTO ALBUM
On the travel back home to the United States
Ginny Thrasher:
I think I left Rio on August 15, we went to the airport, and I ate in the Rio airport which proved to be a mistake as I got food poisoning on the plane. Our plane left a little bit late, and we all ended up missing our connections, but I was very fortunate to get on the next flight. Yesterday, I managed to land, get all of my bags and drove right down to West Virginia. Then, when I got there the team came over to my house with food that I couldn’t eat. It was very nice, they made it a very special celebration for me.
On what she ate that made her sick
Ginny Thrasher:
I think it was pasta.
On how she feels now
Ginny Thrasher:
Better, I started eating.
On what it’s been like walking around campus today
Ginny Thrasher:
It has been an interesting day, to say the least. I have had ESPN following me around to class to kind of do a day in the life series. It’s been a lot of fun to be able to go and show them around my world and also to be able to experience the community of Morgantown supporting me.
On what it’s like to be at this elite level
Ginny Thrasher:
Obviously, it’s great. Its great publicity, not only for me, like Jon said, but for West Virginia University and the sport of shooting. The fact that my medal was the first one made it very popular and made it so that my sport can grow because of that. I might not want the media around me all the time, but it is par for the course and that’s my responsibility as an elite athlete.
On being in awe of everything that has happened in the past year
Ginny Thrasher:
It’s definitely been an overwhelming year for me but at the same time, I have grown as a person and I have grown as a shooter. For me, being able to handle it better is part of becoming successful.
On if winning the Gold medal changes the approach to preparing for next season
Ginny Thrasher:
No. My goal has always been to be the best shooter I can be, not only that but to be the best person I can be, the best teammate, the best student, everything. That doesn’t change no matter how many medals, or what color the medals are, or where you get the medals. All I want to do is go into the next year and try to improve and try to help my team.
On her daily training schedule
Ginny Thrasher:
A normal day for me would be: I go to class from 8:30- 1:00, train with my team from 1:00 to 5:00, 5:30 work out, 6:30 team dinner, homework, bed at 10 p.m. exactly. That’s a normal day. As far as my training for the next few months, I will have a bit of time off, which is a first. Then the college season will start, and I am very excited for that.
On if this is where she thought she would be when she first started shooting
Ginny Thrasher:
I honestly never speculated. I was just trying to improve. I really wanted to come to West Virginia for a long time, so once I got here, to be honest I’ve just blossomed. I have all the resources I need, and I couldn’t be happier.
On how much confidence played a part in her success
Ginny Thrasher:
It’s a huge part. You have to have the confidence to go into every match and know that your self-worth isn’t invested in the results of that match, but you can do anything you want to do.
On her biggest take away from being in Rio
Ginny Thrasher:
The Olympics is a really special match because it’s every country and every sport. It’s just a unique atmosphere. To be able to go and experience that and to be able to become friends with other team U.S.A athletes, to meet other athletes from other countries, regardless of the competition, it’s a special time.
On if she got to enjoy any sports from a fan perspective
Ginny Thrasher:
I had a lot of fun going to some other events. I got to see fencing, trampoline and diving.
On if she thought about coming to school late to stay in Rio
Ginny Thrasher:
I actually did change my flights to be able to stay for a few more days. In the end, you have to get back to school, life moves on. I thought it would be more stressful to miss a few days of school than to be down there.
On what classes she had today (Wednesday)
Ginny Thrasher:
Yes, I had three. I started with second-semester physics. Then, I had differential equations. Then I had intro to electrical engineering.
On what it was like to be recognized on campus
Ginny Thrasher:
Like I said, the best part about Morgantown is the community. For me, because I had an entourage of photographers with me today, I think less people approached me than I expected, but at the same time all of my friends are so happy and proud of me. To be able to just go and experience that and be thrown into the midst of Morgantown is great.
On if she wore the medal to class
Ginny Thrasher:
No, I think I would have gotten bombarded if I had worn the medal to class.
On where she will keep the gold medal
Ginny Thrasher:
I haven’t decided yet, but I’m going to keep it in a very safe place.
On how to handle Ginny’s achievements and how to improve
Jon Hammond:
I think you just have to go day-by-day a little bit. I know Ginny is ready to go back to being another team member and another student and back to normal life. She’s great to work with in that respect. She’s incredibly honest, so I know she’ll come into my office and tell me what she’s thinking at any time. I think that will make it easy. She’ll have the same demands as always, but I think I’m more experienced now as well. I’ve had 10 years coaching. I’ve had people like Petra (Zublasing), Nicco (Campriani) and other international students, other students who have been to the Olympics on the team. I think it will be pretty easy. It will be a lot of managing her training schedule, taking the right amount of break from now until the season starts, making sure that there’s rest times, but also then I think everything will fit back into place. It’s going to be her comfort zone as well. Absolutely in terms of the actual shooting and how to improve, that comes from her a lot, too, if she wants to get better. She’s pretty grounded in that respect. We’ll work together as a team to keep improving, finding ways to improve. Obviously as a coach and a staff we’ll find ways to motivate her, but I’m sure she’ll find lots of ways to motivate herself as well. I think it’s going to be a good challenge in the next step, but for a lot of aspects it’s going to be business as normal with the team, and Ginny fitting right back in as another team member just like last year.
On coach Jon Hammond going through the Olympic experience and watching Ginny’s air rifle competition
Jon Hammond:
It’s just really incredibly special to watch that. I was fortunate in London to actually watch Nicco (Campriani) in person win his medal. This time I was trying to follow it on a phone and do it as best that I could. Actually, that day I was actually in Europe and at a wedding. I was having to grab phones, follow the coverage and get in trouble from my wife occasionally, with watching the match and estimating what score it would take to get into the final. Ginny just stayed right on pace and shot a really solid match, made the final, and then as she said, anything can happen in the finals. She’s an excellent final shooter. It was incredibly exciting watching the final and just getting more and more excited, realizing what was possible. Even at the end it probably took a little bit of time, even for me, to let it sink in that she had actually gone all the way and was going to be an Olympic champion. It was just incredibly special.
On where he was in Europe
Jon Hammond:
In Holland that day.
On if he was able to call Ginny
Jon Hammond:
No, we were texting a good bit. We were able to keep in touch with text. I knew as soon as it happened I may not hear from her for a good 24 hours with how the media operates down there. I think she can tell you - she barely got to see her parents for two minutes. I was able to send a message, and I knew we would catch up in the next day or so.
On Ginny’s qualities
Jon Hammond:
I think just a very outgoing, driven person. Just very willing to speak her mind even as a 14-to-15-year old camper. I think very determined and has a great belief in herself. What I really loved when she did come to camp that even though she was very outgoing and very talkative, she was still a great listener and very coachable. She took in and absorbed all of the information we gave her at the camp, and she listened as much to the team members that were coaching as she did to myself. I knew that she was going to be a great learner. Someone like that if they have the determination and the motivation alongside those things, they can go as far as they want. I’m sure in life with Ginny that’s going to be outside of sport. Whether it’s career wise, engineering, medical or whatever it is going to be, she’s going to have that drive and determination. Rifle is a very repetitive sport. You essentially do the same thing again and again and again. If you have that willingness to learn and you have that work ethic, those are some really big factors.
On being the first female at WVU to win a Gold medal
Ginny Thrasher:
Obviously it’s a great thing for me to be able to do that. One of the best parts about rifle is natural ability does not hold you back. Whether you’re a male, female, 5-foot1 or 6-foot-1, it doesn’t matter. Rifle is a sport where you very much get out of it what you put into it, and that’s the message I would like to get across.
On if she was able to talk to Nicco Campriani and get any advice
Ginny Thrasher:
I got to talk to Nicco (Campriani), as well as Petra (Zublasing) and Ziva (Dvorsak) a lot, so that was great. I didn’t really get any advice from him. He was still kind of still in match-mode, and I was in recovery mode from my managing victory tour. It’s very nice to have that connection, and when you go to World Cups or you go to the Olympics you have that community that spans across nationalities.
On feedback from your appearance with sportscaster Dan Patrick
Ginny Thrasher:
Thank you. That was my first interview on the managing victory tour. After that, my entire schedule got changed, so I think they liked what they saw.
Jon Hammond:
I have to embarrass Ginny on the Dan Patrick side. When I did talk to her a few days afterwards, I saw a lot of pictures from the interview, and I watched it, and Ginny was like, ‘Jon, I didn’t even know who Dan Patrick was.’ It was obviously a great interview, and I think he certainly seemed to enjoy it as well. I think that summed up Ginny, in a sense of that respect, just doing a great interview all along being fairly oblivious to who that guy was.
On if she met the producer and WVU graduate Seton O’Connor
Ginny Thrasher:
Yes. They were all very nice. Dan Patrick has a great sense of humor because I think he realized I didn’t know who he was.
On the flight home to the U.S.
Ginny Thrasher:
We flew from Rio to Houston, then Houston to Washington.
On coming straight to Morgantown
Ginny Thrasher:
Yes. That was yesterday.
On if she had a chance to talk to anyone since she’s been back
Ginny Thrasher:
No.
On her phone ‘blowing up’ after winning Gold
Ginny Thrasher:
I’ll be honest, I haven’t really replied to very many text messages or Facebook (messages). I’m still kind of putting myself back together. Hopefully, I’ll get to that soon.
On taking time to get back on a normal schedule
Ginny Thrasher:
Definitely, but that’s why I was really excited to get back to college because this is my comfort zone and this is where I can get back to a normal standard routine.
On what it’s like to be behind the gun at such a strenuous competition
Ginny Thrasher:
Definitely. I think this competition is one where you can mentally outthink yourself, and that’s the danger. For me, just being very focused. During the match I started out with some struggles, and I had to come off the line and my Olympic coach down there said, ‘Ginny, all you can do is shoot the best you can.’ I got back on the line, and that’s what I did. I shot the best that I could. I had a very bad hold, but it didn’t matter. Once I got into the final, I was very much focused on my breathing, and that was the point where all the training and all the discipline just came through for me. All I did was focus on my breathing and let my body do what it knew how to do.
