COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (February 19, 2019)
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) 2019 World Cup season kicks off tomorrow as 18 USA Shooting athletes have made their way to New Delhi, India for the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup starting Wednesday and running through February 28. Nearly 500 athletes from 58 countries are expected to compete at this World Cup.
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: http://www.usashooting.org/library/Policies_and_Procedures/doc01203920190111105314.pdf[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 Smallbore Selection Match at the end of 2018.
The 13-person Rifle contingent has been putting up world-class scores recently and looks to continue their success in India. To earn her spot, Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, pictured) shot a world-class score of 1185 in Women’s Three-Position Rifle on her first day of Qualification at the Smallbore Selection Match – five points higher than the world record and the highest of anyone in the entire competition. She also won gold in this event at the Championship of the Americas where she
