COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (March 15, 2019)
For many Americans, a trip to Acapulco this time of year represents a spring break vacation full of rest and relaxation. This trip should be anything but for the 19 USA Shooting athletes who’ve made their way to Mexico in pursuit of World Cup medals and Olympic quotas at the first International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup for Shotgun in 2019.
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. Of the eight individual athlete quotas the United States would need to send a full Shotgun team, U.S. athletes have earned five, with the maximum number of quotas earned in Men’s and Women’s Skeet. One of two possible quotas have been earned in Women’s Trap, and none thus far in Men’s Trap. Shotgun athletes will earn Olympic Team slots via a trials system which can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2Y1GFla[1].
Action kicks off Sunday with the Women’s Trap competition. The U.S. is poised to do well and looks to pick up that final quota with Championship of the Americas bronze medalist Ashley Carroll (Solvang, California), National Champion Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, California, pictured) and 14-year-old Junior National and National Junior Olympic Champion Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tennessee). Mexico has been good to the women of the Trap team as Carroll has won two World Cup gold medals here (Acapulco in 2017 and Guadalajara in 2018) and Skinner won bronze in Guadalajara in 2018. Skinner also tied the Qualification World Record of 119/125 targets en route to her bronze-medal win. Carroll and Skinner also narrowly missed out
