COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (August 22, 2018)
Look for young guns and seasoned stalwarts to lead the USA Shooting Team in the Rifle events at the 52nd International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship August 31 – September 15 in Changwon, South Korea. Twenty Olympic quotas will be up for grabs in the Rifle events and the U.S. should be poised to pocket a few, along with some hardware in South Korea.
Three-time Olympic medalist Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey) will make his sixth World Championship appearance in Changwon where he will shoot Men’s Three-Position Rifle and Prone Rifle. Though his highest international finish this year was fourth at the World Cup in Changwon, he’s been posting world-class Qualification scores throughout 2018, including most recently shooting a score of 1182 on his second day of Qualification at the USA Shooting National Championships. Emmons will also shoot the Men’s Prone Rifle event in which he won gold in 2002, bronze in 2010 and bronze as a Junior in 1998.
With the elimination of Men’s Prone Rifle from the Olympic program, Emmons’ two-time Olympic teammate Michael McPhail (Darlington, Wisconsin/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) has beefed up his Three-Position Rifle game, most recently finishing just out of the Finals in 10th place at the World Cup on his home range in Fort Benning, Georgia. In the past two World Cups, he’s posted Qualification scores of 1170. At the 2014 World Championship, McPhail won bronze in Men’s 300m Prone Rifle, which he will once again compete in Changwon. In addition to these two events, McPhail will also shoot Men’s 50m Prone Rifle.
Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana) will make her third trip to a World Championship when she heads to Changwon. Though she’s taken much of the year
