MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — They are Olympians who are Mountaineers at heart.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Ginny Thrasher, Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence would be more than happy to share their medal winning stories with fellow mountaineers.
“It’s always nice to speak about my experience and journey in Rio with the Canada team and also representing West Virginia at the same time,” Lawrence said on WAJR’s Morgantown AM.
Both Lawrence and Buchanan, senior soccer players for West Virginia University, earned bronze medals in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics as players for Team Canada. They earned their medal in a 2-1 win over Brazil.
Earlier in the month, gold medalist Thrasher and bronze medalists Lawrence and Buchanan were honored and recognized for their global accomplishment during half time of the WVU vs. Missouri football game.
Monday, the three student athletes were able to share their stories in a more intimate setting at the “Gold, Bronze and Blue: An Olympic Celebration”.
That’s when you learn exactly what it’s like for competitors on an international stage all vying for gold.
“Mostly it was preparing for the next match because it was so quick in between games. I think it was two days max,” Lawrence recalled.
Soccer matches for Lawrence and Buchanan began even before the opening ceremonies.
For Thrasher, a sophomore WVU air rifle team member, she found herself in the lime light instantly. Her gold medal win in the 10m air rifle shoot was the first gold medal win of the games.
They are among the very best at their sport, humble about their wins and just as impressed to meet Olympians as they are to be Olympians.
“I actually met Usain Bolt. It was definitely accidental because one of my teammates happened to know one of the Jamaican sprinters. We were just hanging out with her. He happened to just walk in. It was very random, but I was definitely star struck,” Lawrence explained.
But, how do you approach the fastest runner in the world?
“To me all etiquette is out the window, you know? It’s Usain Bolt. I definitely screamed out loud and asked for a picture,” she laughed.
The athletes present their experiences in a nonchalant way since gaining fame for their talents. But, they are always competitors at heart at least while students at WVU.
“We want to win a national championship, the Big XII tournament regular season. Yeah, we have targets on our back but, we’re going to go toward it and embrace it. I’m just happy to be back and play that role for this team,” shared Lawrence.
Lawrence, Buchanan and Thrasher took questions and answered their own photo requests at the Morgantown Event Center Monday evening.