COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (April 19, 2019)
The Rifle and Pistol athletes of the USA Shooting Team are on their way back to Asia for the second International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup of the season in Beijing, China starting Sunday and running through April 29. More than 580 athletes from 67 countries are expected to compete at this World Cup. USA Shooting is sending 23 athletes to compete in this event.
It’s crunch time as the top Rifle/Pistol athletes in the world will not only vie for medals, but for valuable 2020 Olympic Games quotas during this year’s World Cup season. An Olympic quota is essentially a country’s ticket to participate in a specific event in the 2020 Olympic Games. Earning an Olympic quota in competition ensures the country a spot in that particular event, not necessarily the athlete. Athletes will earn Olympic Team slots via a trials system which can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2FnccFI[1]. Of the 16 individual athlete quotas the United States would need to send a full team in the Rifle and Pistol events to the Olympic Games, U.S. athletes have earned two of a possible eight in Pistol and five of a possible eight in Rifle. The athletes for this World Cup were selected during the Winter Airgun Championships and Spring Selection Match last month.
The first World Cup of the season in New Delhi, India saw lots of close calls on Finals appearances for the USA Shooting Team and those athletes will look to build on those performances in pursuit of medals and quotas in the Chinese capital. Among those to expect comeback performances in China from is Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colorado/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, pictured), who just set a National Record at the