First four U.S. shooters qualify for Olympics; Ginny Thrasher will not defend Rio title

Lucas Kozeniesky, Will Shaner, Mary Tucker and Ali Weisz became the first U.S. shooters to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics at air rifle trials that finished Sunday. Kozeniesky is the lone returning Olympian of the group, having placed 21st in Rio.

Meanwhile, Ginny Thrasher, who won the first gold medal of the Rio Games, will not defend that air rifle title in Tokyo. But she can still make the U.S. team in another event.

Tucker and Shaner are both 18-year-old University of Kentucky students. They are the third and fourth U.S. Olympic qualifiers across all sports so far born in 2001 or later. The youngest U.S. Olympians in Rio (table tennis player Kanak Jha) and PyeongChang (figure skater…