Tichenor’s Shot at Rio
By: Lauren Phillips Media Intern
For Paralympic Pistol
athlete Staff Sgt. Shaun Tichenor, representing the United States has a divided defi nition: wearing the fl ag not only on the back of his Team USA jacket, but also on the shoulder of his Army uniform.
Tichenor’s journey to
the Paralympic Pistol scene has been a bumpier story than most athletes are able to tell. From 1997-2001 he began his Army career, and then found himself re- enlisting in 2010 as part of the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York. While many of his future teammates were compet- ing at the 2012 Paralym- pic Games, Tichenor was deploying to Afghanistan. While watching over a road suspected of carrying explosive material trans- ports, Tichenor followed in his team’s footsteps through the burning sand and passed over a pressure plate for an improvised ex- plosive device (IED), which activated as he stepped on it. “We were walking,
I stepped where they stepped, and I guess the pressure plate went off for me. They stepped on
it, cleared off the dirt and when I stepped on it, it was metal on metal and exploded — vaporizing my heel and leaving a big open wound in the middle of my (foot) arch.” After being wounded, Tichenor was placed in intensive care at the Walter Reed National Military Med- ical Center in Washington D.C. After analysis of his injury, Tichenor, an avid run- ner, was given the option to quit running and have a lifetime of pain or choose to amputate — a choice that would change his career forever. Within four months, with the help of his internal drive for success and new assistive prosthe- sis, he was back to running and was cleared to return to duty. It was during this time Tichenor spoke with Paralympic Assistant Coach Sgt. (Armando) Ayala, and became interested in the Army Marksmanship Unit as a way to continue serving active duty. After his eight months
at Walter Reed, Tichenor traveled to Fort Benning,
22 USA Shooting News | September 2015
Georgia to become part of the Paralympic team at the Army Marksmanship Unit. Joining other active-duty amputees like himself, he began to learn the ropes of International Air and Free Pistol. The events fall within the P1 and P4 categories of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which are designated to athletes with upper and/or lower limb impairment. Competition for the United States through pistol shooting was never a goal for Tichenor before his injury; it was always just a function of the job he signed up for when enlist- ing. Tichenor adds he did minimal pistol training in the Army. “So these events had been brand new to me, which might have been a good thing because I had no bad habits to erase,” he said.
Although relatively new
to Paralympic shooting, Tichenor has direct goals leading him to Rio 2016.
“After my injury, I had no idea where I was going, and now I am still active duty Army with a chance to participate in the 2016 Paralympic Games - it means the world to me. My teammate Sgt. John Joss and I would be the second and third active duty soldiers to make the Paralympics, so the next step is to be the fi rst and second to win a medal there.”
As he fi nds himself among the top competi- tors for the 2016 Para- lympic Games in Rio, Tichenor also looks to make an impact on the sport in more ways than just winning. “I don’t only look to win, but also to build the pistol side of the shooting sport here in the USA,” he said.
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