2016 Olympics: U.S. Shooting Team Results Thread

[10X 3,296]

I’ll post results here, starting Saturday.   

 

Shooting has been the first medal event of every Olympics of the modern era.  Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern games, made Free Pistol the first event of the inaugural 1896 games, as he thought it was the most difficult event of the games.   In 1988, when Women’s air rifle was introduced, it replaced Free Pistol as the first medal event.   There are now 15 shooting events in the Summer Olympics, plus the pistol event in the Modern Pentathlon.  In addition, there are 11 Biathlon events in the Winter Olympics.  Keep those facts in mind the next time someone tries to tell you that guns have no legitimate sporting purpose!

 

For now, let me introduce to you the members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Shooting Team. 

 

Special shout outs to:

 

Will Brown, who is not only from my home town, but is also competing in both of my former pistol events.

 

Matt Emmons, from Browns Mills, NJ, going for his fourth Olympic medal in rifle.

 

Kim Rhode, veteran skeet shooter who has a chance to make history by becoming the first person to ever medal in SIX Olympic games.

 

Honorable mention to Anatoly Pikman,  Short Hills, NJ and a member at my home range in Riverdale.   Anatoly is a member of the US team in Rapid Fire Pistol, but he didn’t qualify for an Olympic slot this year.

 

More detail on the team members at:  http://www.usashooting.org/12-the-team/rioinsight

 

Pistol

 

Will Brown
 Event: Free Pistol, Air pistol

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Twin Falls, Idaho

 

Emil Milev
  Event: Rapid fire pistol

Olympic Experience: Bulgaria —1992, 1996 (silver), 2000, 2004; Team USA – 2012

Hometown: Temple Terrace, Fla.

 

Keith Sanderson
  Event: Rapid fire pistol

Olympic Experience: 2008, 2012

Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.

 

Enkelejda Shehaj
  Event: 25-meter pistol

Olympic Experience: Albania – 1992, 1996

Hometown: Naples, Fla.

 

Lydia Paterson
  Event: Air Pistol

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Kansas City, Kan.

 

Jay Shi
  Event: Free pistol, air pistol

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.

 

Rifle

 

Matt Emmons
  Event: Three-position rifle

Olympic Experience: 2004 (gold, prone), 2008 (silver, prone), 2012 (bronze, three-position)

Hometown: Browns Mills, N.J.

 

David Higgins
  Event: Prone

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: San Clemente, Calif.

 

Lucas Kozeniesky
  Event: Air rifle

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Fairfax, Va.

 

Dan Lowe
  Event: Air rifle

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Olympia, Wash.

 

Michael McPhail
  Event: 50-meter prone

Olympic Experience: 2012

Hometown: Darlington, Wis.

 

Sarah Scherer
  Event: Air rifle

Olympic Experience: 2012

Hometown: Woburn, Mass.

 

Virginia Thrasher
  Event: Three-position rifle, air rifle

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Springfield, Va.

 


Shotgun

 

Corey Cogdell-Unrein
  Event: Trap

Olympic Experience: 2008 (bronze), 2012

Hometown: Eagle River, Alaska

 

Morgan Craft
  Event: Skeet

Olympic Experience: None

Hometown: Muncy Valley, Pa.

 

Glenn Eller
  Event: Double trap

Olympic Experience: 2000, 2004, 2008 (gold), 2012

Hometown: Houston, Texas

 

Vincent Hancock
  Event: Skeet

Olympic Experience: 2008 (gold), 2012 (gold)

Hometown: Eatonton, Ga.

 

Josh Richmond  
Event: Double trap

Olympic Experience: 2012

Hometown: Hillsgrove, Pa.

 

Kim Rhode
  Event: Skeet

Olympic Experience: 1996 (gold, double trap), 2000 (bronze, double trap), 2004 (gold, double trap), 2008 (silver, skeet), 2012 (gold, skeet)

Hometown: El Monte, Calif.

Shooting Success: Five-time Olympic medalist, 28-time world cup medalist and 14-time national champion

Bet You Didn't Know: She can become the first Olympian to win a medal on five different continents at the 2016 Rio Games in South America.

 

Frank Thompson
  Event: Skeet

Olympic Experience: 2012

Hometown: Alliance, Neb.

 

 

         Go USA!

Citius - Altius - Fortius

[deerpark 83]

How do we usually do in the shooting events?

[10X 3,296]

How do we usually do in the shooting events?

Overall, pretty well.  Medal table at the bottom of this link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_at_the_Summer_Olympics  The US has won roughly twice as many as the other top-placing countries.

 

Historically, we've been strongest in rifle and shotgun events, weaker in pistol.

[Kevin125 4,772]

Opening Ceremonies begins this Friday at 7pm.

 

Here's an event schedule.

 

https://www.rio2016.com/sites/default/files/users/rio2016_files/guia_ingressoing_2015_daily_0.pdf

[Kevin125 4,772]

Also, son of a running friend of mine, Robby Andrews is racing the 1500m (track).  NJ resident.

[10X 3,296]

And the first medal awarded at the 2016 Olympics goes to…

 

U. S. shooter Ginny Thrasher, who took the gold medal in Women’s Air Rifle!!

Ginny, from Springfield, VA, is a 19-year-old member of the powerful West Virginia University varsity rifle team.  She beat two-time gold medalist Li Du of China by a single point in the finals.  Yi Siling, also of China, took the Bronze.

 

Sarah Scherer, of Woburn, MA, was the other U. S. Olympian in the event.  Sarah finished 8^th.

 

Even the Associated Press ran with the story:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2016/08/06/first-gold-medal-in-rio-goes-to-us-shooter-virginia-thrasher/88332924/

 

Women’s Air Rifle event:  https://www.olympic.org/shooting/10m-air-rifle-40-shots-women

 

Interesting, in the opening ceremonies last night, two nations chose shooters to be their nation’s flag bearer:  India’s flag bearer was Abhinav Bindra, a member of their Olympic Rifle team, and Serbia’s flag bearer was Ivana Maksimovik also a member of their Olympic Rifle team.  Both have won Olympic medals for their countries previously.

[Mrs. Peel 7,156]

Thanks, 10X, for doing this great thread.       I'm going to enjoy following it.

[10X 3,296]

Men’s Air Pistol wrapped up a short time ago.  It didn’t go as well for Team USA as we’d hoped. 

 

Hoang Vinh of Vietnam won the Gold medal,

Felipe Wu (Brazil) won the Silver, just 0.4 points behind Hoang

Pang Wei (China) finished third to take the Bronze

 

Americans Will Brown finished in 12^th place, and Jay Shi finished 18^th in the field of 46.   (my old scores would have only put me in about 35th place...)

 

Air Pistol image:  http://www.pilkguns.com/LP50compact2013.jpg

 

Events coming up tomorrow include Women's Air Pistol, Women's Trap, and Day 1 of Men's Trap.

 

 

In related news, America’s newest gold medalist Ginny Thrasher spoke out against the gun law controversies that are making it difficult for competitive shooters in the U.S.   http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/06/shooting-gold-medalist-ginny-thrasher-laments-controversy-gun-laws/88333030/

 

Update:  NBC just ran a great interview with Ginny (It was broadcast!  Not on one of the obscure webcast channels).  She had several minutes of air time, did a great job of explaining her event, and a little footage from the shooting venue made it into the clip.   It was very good exposure for the shooting sports.

 

Six-time Olympian Kim Rhodes is taking a very strong stand, particularly against California’s new law requiring a background check for every ammo purchase.   Kim shoots 500 to 1000 rounds every day of her life, and notes that the constant background checks are an unnecessary hardship.  https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/05/rio2016-top-american-olympic-shooter-kim-rhode-attacks-gun-control-laws

 

These two are perhaps the best spokespeople we could have making the case that current gun laws have gone too far and ARE negatively affecting sport shooters.  

[louu 399]

Will trap be on TV? 

[10X 3,296]

Will trap be on TV? 

 NBC says they will stream every event of the Olympics, and after the Beijing games you could look at archived video, so I'd imagine they'll do that again.  You can look for the timing of the events here:  http://www.nbcolympics.com/live-stream-schedule

 

It's anybody's guess if it will make it onto their TV broadcast.  In past years, very little shooting coverage has been broadcast, and that often shows up in short clips shown after the event is over.   That said, trap and skeet make for much better television than do rifle and pistol, particularly the finals, when they use clay pigeons loaded with colored powder to make the breaks very visible.

 

IF Kim Rhode is in the finals for Woman's Skeet, I expect at least some of that to be broadcast.   She's already the only U.S. Olympian to win medals in 5 consecutive Olympic games (in any event).  If she medals in this, her 6th Olympics, she'll set a record that may never be beaten.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

It may be on the NBC Sports channel, not regular NBC.

[voyager9 3,433]

As much as I hate Comcast, they have an olympics filter for their guide that will show all the events currently airing. A nice feature since its peanut buttered across a dozen different channels

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Krdshrk 3,877]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qaz9uL6I5E

[voyager9 3,433]

Anyone know why they wear that outfit?

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Anyone know why they wear that outfit?

It is a heavy canvas jacket and pants that makes moving very difficult. Once you get in position, it helps you stay in that position.  It also dampens out your heartbeat and breathing.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Longer video:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/thrashers-win-highlights-womens-10m-air-rifle-competition

[voyager9 3,433]

It is a heavy canvas jacket and pants that makes moving very difficult. Once you get in position, it helps you stay in that position. It also dampens out your heartbeat and breathing.

Thanks!

[10X 3,296]

Women’s Air Pistol concluded a short time ago.

 

Gold Medal:   Zhang Xengxue of China

Silver Medal:  Vitalina Batsarashkina of Russia, finishing 2.3 points behind Zhang

Bronze Medal: Anna Korakaki of Greece

 

All are first-time Olympians, and together they make up a remarkably young group for a pistol event—their ages range from 19 to 24.

 

The two US shooters, first-time Olympian Lydia Paterson of Kansas City and Enkelejda Shejaj of Naples Florida, finished 29^th and 40^th, respectively, out of the field of 44 competitors.  Enkelejda had previously competed for Albania in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

[10X 3,296]

The Women’s Trap event has completed.  Team USA won a bronze medal.

 

Gold:  Catherine Skinner, Australia, who hit 12 of 15 targets in the finals round

Silver:  Natalie Rooney, New Zealand, was edged out, hitting 11 of 15 in the finals

Bronze:  Corey Cogdell-Unrein, United States.    This is Corey’s third Olympics; she also won a Bronze medal in Beijing in 2008.  Corey was the only US shooter to qualify for Women’s Trap this year.

 

Don’t be mislead by the seemingly low scores; International ‘Bunker’ Trap is quite a bit more difficult than American trap.

 

Full event:  http://stream.nbcolympics.com/womens-trap-final

 

Short clip of the finals:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82915358/rio-olympics-2016-shooter-natalie-rooney-to-shoot-for-gold-in-womens-trap-event

 

Tomorrow’s events:  Men’s Air Rifle, and the concluding second day of Men’s Trap.

[10X 3,296]

Men's air rifle has wrapped up.

 

Gold: Niccolo Campriani of Italy. Niccolo won Silver in this event in London in 2012, along with the Gold in 3-position rifle. Early in his career Niccolo shot for West Virginia University.

 

Silver: Serhiy Kulish, Ukraine

 

Bronze: Vladimir Maslennikov, Russia

 

Neither American shooter made the finals.

 

Lucas Kozeniesky of Fairfax, VA finished 21st in the field of 50. Lucas is a member of the Varsity Rifle Team at North Carolina State.

 

Daniel Lowe of Olympia, Washington finished 34th. Dan will be competing later this week in both 3-position and prone rifle.

[10X 3,296]

Men's Trap has wrapped up.

 

Gold: Josip Glasnovic, Croatia

 

Silver: Giovanni Pellielo of Italy, competing in his SEVENTH Olympics!

 

Bronze: Edward Ling, Great Britain

 

No U.S. Shooter qualified for the Olympics in trap this year, though we have two who will be shooting in the doubles trap event later in the week.

 

Up tomorrow: Women's 25 meter pistol. This event is somewhat similar to American bullseye competition, except the targets are smaller, optical ('dot') sights are not allowed, and the timed and rapid stages begin with she shooters arm down at a 45 degree angle-not already up and on target.

[10X 3,296]

Women's 25 Meter Pistol (aka 'Sport Pistol') Results

 

Gold: Anna Korakaki of Greece, who won a Bronze in Women's Air Pistol earlier in the week.

 

Silver: Monika Karsch, Germany

 

Bronze: Diethelm Gerber, Switzerland

 

Enkelejda Shehal was the only U. S. Woman to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in this event. She finished 33rd out of a field of 40.

 

Up tomorrow:

Men's Double Trap

Men's 50 Meter Pistol (aka Free Pistol, one of my old events).

[Krdshrk 3,877]

You can watch here:

http://nbcolympics.com/shooting

 

If you want to see what's currently live, head to http://www.nbcolympics.com/liveshooting and the current live events will be there. The same goes for any event... Want to see archery? nbcolympics.com/archery. Want to see live archery? Just use nbcolympics.com/livearchery.

[10X 3,296]

Men's 50m pistol (free pistol) just completed; this was the first event of the Summer Olympics until 1988, because the founder of the modern games thought it was the most difficult event of the games.

Gold: Jin Jong-Oh of South Korea, Jin holds the world record in both 10m and 50m pistol. He is a five-time Olympic medalist, including an unprecedented 3 consecutive gold medals in this event

Silver: Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam, who earlier this week won the gold in Men's 10m air pistol.

Bronze: Kim Song Guk, North Korea.

The U.S. Athletes in this event were Will Brown, Twin Falls, Idaho, who finished 10th, and Jay Shi, Phoenix, Arizona, who finished 14th.

"Free" pistol refers to the fact that there are very few rules governing their design. The grip can enclose the hand, but not extend past the break in the wrist. Sight radius is unlimited, but optical sights are prohibited. Electronic triggers set to a fraction of an ounce are the norm. The few companies that make them test fire from a machine rest, and pistols that can't put 10 rounds in a 0.4" group at 50 m (55 yards) won't leave the factory.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

I was watching on the NBC stream... Olympic record - and he came from behind to win too... that was a good close event.

[10X 3,296]

I was watching on the NBC stream... Olympic record - and he came from behind to win too... that was a good close event.

It's a nice facility, too. I shot on the 10m and 50m ranges in Rio de Janeiro in the late 80's, and they were kinda ratty; though they did have the "Bang Bang Bar" on site. I found it hysterical that not only was doping control set up to do drug testing in the bar, but the rifle shooters-who were dehydrated after spending hours in their heavy shooting pants and jackets--would be offered a beer while waiting to produce a urine sample.

 

I'll bet the bar is gone, but the rest of the venue looks pretty good.

[mikeyjones 88]

What caliber pistols do they shoot?

 

Sent from my Z812 using Tapatalk

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Watching Double trap right now..

 

Man some of these guys have a huge vent rib on their shotguns.

[10X 3,296]

What caliber pistols do they shoot?

 

Sent from my Z812 using Tapatalk

Not many caliber choices still in use in the Olympics, though some center fire events are still shot in other international competitions.

 

Air rifle and air pistol use .177 cal pellets. The guns mostly use compressed air cylinders now, though older-generation guns used refillable CO2 cylinders or single-pump spring piston mechanisms.

 

All other rifle and pistol events are .22 LR

 

Trap and skeet are 12 gauge only-no sub gauge events in skeet

 

Until a few years ago, rapid-fire pistol was a .22 short event; a recent rule change required .22 LR.

 

There have been center fire rifle and pistol events in past Olympics, but no more. 300m rifle hung on into the 60's. No more team events, either. Running deer, running boar (both on paper targets) were Olympic events for almost 100 years, but they are gone.

[10X 3,296]

Men's Double Trap final

 

Gold: Fehaid Aldeehani, representing Independent Olympic Athletes. Fehaid formerly shot for Kuwait, but Kuwait has been banned from the games this year. Fehaid won bronze medals in 2000 and 2012

 

Silver: Marco Innocenti, Italy. Two targets out of first place

 

Bronze: Steven Scott, Great Britain

 

The U.S shooters were Josh Richmond of Hillsgrove, PA, who finished 7th in the field of 22, and Glenn Eller of Houston TX who finished 14th.

 

Tomorrow's event is Women's 50m 3-position rifle.