RIO DE JANEIRO _ Today's story was supposed to highlight Sarah Scherer's unretirement and triumphant comeback from back surgery.
But the story changed during the women's 10-meter rifle competition.
That's the great thing about the Olympics: You never know. The unexpected is expected.
Thus, Virginia Thrasher was who everyone left the Olympic Shooting Centre talking about Saturday in the first full day of Olympic competition. Who indeed, the Chinese must be asking.
Thrasher's high school graduation was only last year. And the 19-year-old took up shooting just five years ago, with her only previous international competition limited to two events this spring.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
"A little bit of disbelief," said Thrasher, who won the NCAA rifle individual title and helped West Virginia to the team title as a freshman. "I think I still have that. I'm very overwhelmed, but it's the happiest feeling on earth."
Although Thrasher dominated the USA Shooting 50-meter rifle three-position trials in April, her age and inexperience made her a long shot to do what she did in her first Olympic event.
The Springfield, Va., native ranked only 23rd in the world in 10-meter air rifle.
"It's just such a great thing to come together, especially in her first Games, so young," said Scherer, 25, a TCU product. " ... I know her really well, and I know how tough an athlete she is, and I know her mental game. I'm honestly not surprised."
Scherer fared better than Thrasher in the 40-shot qualifying, scoring a 416.8 to finish fifth. Eight shooters advanced, and Thrasher was sixth with a 416.3 score.
But officials threw Scherer a curve before the final, making her change her butt plate. That forced Scherer to hold the gun into her shoulder.
"I was having to muscle the gun," Scherer said. "Optimally, you're relaxed, and you can get all your muscles relaxed and so forth, so you can steady your hold. I couldn't do that."
Forget the fact that it's the same butt plate she competed with in getting seventh at the London Games and the same butt plate that passed equipment check two days earlier.
"It's kind of the critical piece," Scherer said. "I'm not exactly sure what happened there, but there was some miscommunication. Who knows? As an athlete, things come your way, and you've just got to deal with it and make the best of it."
Scherer was the first shooter eliminated in the final, scoring only 9.6 out of a possible 10.9 on her second shot and a 9.1 on her fourth shot. Her eighth-place finish left her family wondering if Scherer's back was bothering her.
"I knew something was going on," said Sue Scherer, Sarah's mother.
Sarah Scherer has had two operations since 2014 to repair three herniated discs in her back. She officially retired but unretired last summer for a shot at an Olympic medal.
Scherer still has three-position competition Aug. 11, giving her one last shot at a medal before she retires for good.
"Fingers crossed," she said.
Thrasher became the first American gold medalist in the 10-meter air rifle since Nancy Johnson in 2000 as she scored 208 points in a new finals format.
China's Du Li, who set an Olympic record with a 420.7 score in qualifying, took the silver with 207. China's Yi Siling, the defending Olympic champion, wore the bronze with 185.4.
IOC President Thomas Bach hung the Rio Games' first gold medal around Thrasher's neck.
"This is beyond my wildest dreams," Thrasher said. "But I knew it was realistic to get into the finals, and once you get into the finals, anything can happen."
Thrasher still has three-position competition, but it's back to reality on Aug. 18, when, only 20 hours after returning from Rio, she has an 8:30 a.m. physics class. Surely, a gold medal will buy her a skip day.
"We'll see," she said with a wide smile.
