COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (July 28, 2019)
I
t was a fun day Sunday for America’s Shooting Team following three medals and two Olympic missions accomplished on day two of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
The U.S. Women were clutch in Three-Position Rifle, finishing with two medals and, most important of all, the Olympic quota in the event. Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana) is your 2019 Pan American Games gold medalist thanks to her outstanding prone results. Having already earned one of the two Olympic quotas at the 2018 Championship of the Americas, Beard had one thing on her mind with her participation in the Pan American Games – champion of the Americas – and setting up her attempt to qualify for her first Olympic Games starting this fall.
To get there she shot a second-best Qualification score of 1165 that included a perfect 400 in the Prone stage. In the Final, she was third after the first stage of kneeling, second after prone and then took a stand in standing to ensure her golden finish after struggling in that stage in Qualification. She’d finish .7 points ahead of Cuba’s Eglys De La Cruz in the end. If she had finished second there would have been no quota for Team USA on this day.
“As always, it’s an honor to represent Team USA on the podium,” Beard said. “It’s even better sharing it with a teammate. “I’m happy to come home having accomplished my job. Big thanks to Perú for putting on an awesome competition so far, and also to our coaches and staff for providing constant support!”
Beard was joined on the medal stand by 2016 Air Rifle Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher (Springfield, Virginia). The medal is secondary to
