GUADALAJARA, Mexico (November 10, 2018)
The final two days for the Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico closed on a high note for the USA Shooting Team with an additional four individual gold medals, two individual silver medals and one bronze.
On Friday’s penultimate day of competition, Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana) won gold in the Women’s Three-Position Rifle event. Beard finished Qualification by setting an Americas record with her world-class qualifying score of 1176. Her teammates MacKensie Martin and Rachel Garner would also qualify for the Final, both with scores of 1163.
Once in the Final, Beard jumped to a sizeable lead after the first kneeling series, going on to win the gold medal by 5.1 points over Dianelys Perez of Cuba. Martin (Murray, Kentucky) was eliminated in fourth place and Garner (Celina, Texas) was eliminated in fifth place. The trio would also earn a team gold medal for their combined score, which also set an Americas record.
For her gold-medal win, Beard also secured an Olympic quota for the United States in Women’s Three-Position Rifle for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Twelve Olympic quotas were also earned by U.S. athletes in Guadalajara at this match, bringing the U.S. total to 12 thus far. 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 established by USA Shooting.
On the final day of competition Saturday, the winning opened up with George Norton (Salina, Kansas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) taking gold in Men’s Three-Position Rifle, which also meant he earned the United States an Olympic quota in the event. Norton’s AMU teammate Patrick Sunderman (Farmington,
