Sports shooter Virginia Thrasher from the United States won the first gold medal awarded at the Rio Olympics, edging Chinese rival Du Li Saturday in the women’s 10m air rifle finals.

After her victory, Thrasher spoke about gun laws in her country, which has greatly suffered from gun violence in recent years.

Thrasher won gold with a score of 208 points, a new Olympic record, beating out two of the big favorites: Du, who won silver, and another Chinese competitor, Yi Siling (185.4 points), who was defending her title but ended up settling for bronze.

The 19-year-old American finished sixth in the qualification round with 416.3 points, 4.4 points behind Du, while Yi scraped her way into the finals as the last of eight shooters to advance.

Thrasher, who dreamed as a girl about competing in the Winter Olympics in figure skating before choosing to specialize in sports shooting, was cool under pressure in the decisive moments despite her age against the veterans Du, 34, and Yi, 27.

In this competition, the shooters fire at a distance of 10 meters (32.7 feet) from a standing position using a 4.5 mm caliber air rifle with a maximum weight of 5.5 kilograms (12.13 pounds). EFE

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 6 (EFE)

How Gun Control Affects U.S. Olympic Shooters

In a press conference following the awards ceremony, Thrasher stated that recent gun control legislation distracts from her chosen sport.

Kim Rhode, a veteran Olympic shooter from California, has previously spoken about the extensive background checks she must go through to purchase ammunition for training.

Shooting events have been a mainstay of the Olympics, but they have become controversial in recent years. At one point, the National Rifle Association, which is the strongest and most powerful opponent of gun control in the U.S., managed the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team.

Despite the controversy, the highest gold medal count in the history of U.S. participation in the Olympics has been earned by its shooting team.