World Championship Preview: Rifl e
Youthful Optimism For 29 Rifl e Team Members
Admittedly, there’s a
youth movement going on in the rifl e program of USA Shooting. But with youth comes optimism and there’s plenty of leadership to show the young sharpshooters the right way led by all-ev- erything Matt Emmons. The three-time Olympic medalist has given up Air Rifl e since London, which means more time behind the smallbore gun he loves most. He’s made event fi nals in three of the four World Cup events he’s competed in and will hope to earn his fi rst inter- national medal since Lon- don and his fourth World Championship medal come September. Shooting Prone has been
a medal luxury for Emmons and Team USA. He was the gold medalist in 2002 and bronze medalist in 2010. With a medal this time around, he would become the all-time leader with three World Champs medals in this event. Emmons and his Olympic
rifl e teammates from 2012 including Michael McPhail, Eric Uptagrafft, Sarah Scherer and Amanda Furrer will lead a team long on tal- ent, but short on experience. As an Olympic newcomer in 2012, Scherer was strong making the fi nals of Air Rifl e and fi nishing seventh over- all despite a severe elbow injury that nearly forced her
withdrawal less than two weeks before her event. The 2010 Junior World
Champ silver medalist has been strong as well this season where she earned a bronze medal in Three-Posi- tion Rifl e at World Cup USA followed by a fi nals place- ment and seventh-place fi nish in Air Rifl e in Maribor, Slovenia. Scherer, Furrer and her
other U.S. teammates will look to break a U.S. women’s medal drought in the open division that dates back to 1998 when Elizabeth Bour- land earned a bronze medal in the 50-meter Prone event. Add Sarah Beard (pictured above) to that mix, as she’s
shown she can come up big previously at the World Championships winning a silver medal in Junior com- petition in Prone at the 2010 World Championships. “Overall, the theme for
this team is youth led by some stellar veterans,” said USA Shooting Director of Op- erations, Dave Johnson. “In my time with USA Shooting, I have to say this is the young- est group I can remember. Coaches and staff will be working hard to get the team prepared for the fi rst Olym- pic Quota event of the 2016 cycle. We have been prepar- ing our emerging elite ath- letes for over two years for this event and we have seen
very promising results in all events. I look forward to the World Championships with Team USA.”
For more information, visit the ISSF World Championship page on the USA Shooting website by scanning this QR code.
September 2014 | USA Shooting News
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