Largest USA World Cup Ever Starts Sunday

[USAMU]

FORT BENNING, Ga. - The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit will host the International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle and Pistol World Cup USA March 30 to April 7; the competition starts April 1. The ISSF World Cup USA will be conducted at the USAMU ranges off Dixie Road by USA Shooting, the national governing body for Olympic shooting sports.

According to USA Shooting, this is by far the largest ISSF World Cup ever hosted by the United States. More than 60 countries with over 500 shooters are expected to compete in these international events and hundreds of the competitors are expected to be Olympians. So far, 524 athletes from 65 nations have registered for 878 events, which will make this the largest shooting World Cup ever to be held in the United States.

Every year, qualified shooters of each of the Olympic shooting disciplines participate in four World Cups. Not only can shooters win medals and set world records at these World Cups, but they can also win quota slots for their countries to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The USA has earned 18 of a possible 28 Olympic quota slots up to now.

World Cups for 2007 are: Shotgun World Cup, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, March 18 to 29; Rifle and Pistol World Cup, Fort Benning, Ga., March 31 to April 8; Shotgun World Cup, Changwon, Korea, April 13 to 24; Rifle and Pistol World Cup, Sydney, Australia, April 25 to May 3; Rifle and Pistol World Cup, Bangkok, Thailand, May 3 to 11; Rifle and Pistol World Cup, Munich, Germany, May 28 to June 4; Shotgun World Cup, Lonato, Italy, June 6 to 15; and Shotgun World Cup, Maribor, Slovenia, June 26 to July 7.

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.

The World Cup will kick off March 30 with a Media Day, hosted by USA Shooting and the USAMU. Media are invited to try their luck at some of the World Cup's shooting competitions including air rifle, air pistol and rapid fire pistol. 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:
March 30: 1 to 3 p.m., Media Day
March 31: Delegations arrive and go through equipment control and photo accreditation April 1: Official training; Opening Ceremony at 5 p.m.
April 2: Women's and Men's Air Rifle competitions, finals and awards.
April 3: Men's and Women's Air Pistol competitions, finals and awards.
April 4: Men's and Women's Three-Position Rifle competitions, finals and awards.
April 5: Men's Rapid Fire Pistol competitions, finals and awards.
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.

Soldiers from the Army Marksmanship Unit who will be competing in the World Cup are: Rifle shooters Lt. Col. Robert E. Harbison, a 1996 Olympian; Maj. Michael E. Anti, 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist; Sgt. 1st Class Thomas A. Tamas, a native of Columbus, Ga., who is a two-time Olympian; Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker, a two-time Olympian; and Spc.
Michael D. McPhail, 2006 Interservice Rifle Champion; and pistol shooters Sgt. 1st Class Daryl L. Szarenski, a two-time Olympian; Sgt.
1st Class Thomas A. Rose, the 2006 Air Pistol National Champion; and Staff Sgt. John C. Ennis, the 2006 Rapid Fire Pistol National Champion.
Tamas, Parker, Szarenski and Rose have already won 2008 Olympic Quota Slots.

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.)