USA rifle shooters make finals but miss medals

[USAS and USAMU]

By USA Shooting & U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Olympic champion Matt Emmons and U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit athlete Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker both narrowly missed the medals podium on April 4 in the Men's Three-Position Rifle competition at the International Shooting Sports Federation Rifle and Pistol World Cup at the Pool International Shooting Complex.

Emmons shot a total of 1271.3, just 3/10ths of a point from the Bronze Medal. His finals string was low, shooting a 9.2, 9.1 in the first two shots. In the seventh shot he dropped an 8.3 which sealed his fourth place fate. Parker fired an 1172 to secure a place in the finals, but the qualification score is what kept him from the medals stand. In the finals he scored 98.4, but was unable to make up the 2 point deficit between himself and the ultimate medalists. Maj. Michael E. Anti of the USAMU finished in 24th place.

Artem Khadjibekov of Russia took the Gold Medal, Zhanbo Jia of China finished with the Silver Medal and Artur Aivazian of Ukraine got the Bronze.

Jamie Beyerle was the top riflewoman for the USA in the Women's Three-Position Sport Rifle competition. Her total score in the qualification was 575 points, to land her in 23rd place. Abigail Fong was in 25th after shooting a 574, and new U.S. National Development Team addition Amanda Furrer landed in 41st place.

Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany won the Gold Medal, Wen Yin of China got the Silver Medal and Barbara Lechner of Germany received the Bronze. Jim Wetherington, mayor of Columbus, Ga., presented the medals at the awards ceremony at Hook Range.

China leads the World Cup with six medals. Russia and Germany both have three and the USA has two. The Czech Republic, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine all have one each. To access competition results, photos and daily updates visit www.usashooting.org.

The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit is hosting the International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle and Pistol World Cup USA through April 7 at the USAMU ranges off Dixie Road by USA Shooting, the national governing body for Olympic shooting sports.

Countries that are participating in the World Cup USA include:
Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Surinam, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands.
Media are invited to cover the World Cup but should coordinate with the Fort Benning Public Affairs Office before coming to post.

The schedule of events is as follows:
April 5: Men's Rapid Fire Pistol competition from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by the finals at 3:30 p.m. at Phillips Range; the Awards Ceremony will be at 4:30 p.m. at Hook Range.
April 6: Women's Sport Pistol competitions, finals and awards.
April 7: Men's Free Pistol and Free Rifle Prone competitions, finals and awards; Closing Ceremony.

For more information on the World Cup, call the USAMU Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436 or e-mail paula.pagan@usaac.army.mil.

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade of the U.S. Army Accessions Command. The Marksmanship Unit trains its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usaac.army.mil or http://www.usaac.army.mil/amu/. USA Shooting is recognized by the U.S.
Olympic Committee and the International Shooting Sport Federation as the national governing body for the Olympic and international shooting sports in the United States. For more information on USA Shooting, contact Public Relations Manager Najasila Campbell at (719) 866-4896 or
http://www.usashooting.com.)

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