Colorado Springs, CO -(Ammoland.com)- At only 18 years old, Lydia Paterson (Kansas City, Kansas) has solidified herself as a world-class pistol athlete by earning an Olympic Quota in Women’s Air Pistol at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Munich, Germany.
Paterson won the quota by scoring a 386/400 and placing eighth in the Women’s Air Pistol Final, the highest U.S. finish in this event internationally since 2012 Olympian Sandra Uptagrafft made Finals and finished eighth at the 2010 ISSF World Championship. Paterson also earns USA Shooting’s first quota in the event since four-time Olympian Rebecca Snyder did so back in 2005 prior to the 2008 Olympic Games.
A quota spot is essentially the entry ticket necessary for a country to compete in Olympic competition in a particular discipline. A country is allowed to earn only two quotas in Women’s Air Pistol, and an athlete can win only one quota for her country – regardless of the discipline. Quota spots are then awarded to the next eligible athlete in the rankings, and thus Paterson won one of the three available quotas at this World Cup. USA Shooting athletes winning Olympic quotas will still have to earn the right to compete in the Olympic Games separately.
More information on selection procedures and quotas for 2015 World Cups and the 2016 Olympic Games can be found here.
Paterson comes off of a recent gold-medal finish at the National Junior Olympic Championships in April where she shot a 388/400, breaking the previous Junior record of 386. Paterson will continue to be one to watch when she returns to Germany for the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl later this month.
Also competing in Women’s Air Pistol was Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama), who finished in 57th place and Stephanie Fryer (Colorado Springs, Colorado), who finished in 117th place.
Finishing up the week of competition was the Men’s Three–Position Rifle event, where Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey) and George Norton (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Salina, Kansas) finished in 25th and 27th place, both scoring 1170. Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) finished in 43rd place with a score of 1164.
In addition to Paterson with strong performances in the Pistol events were Keith Sanderson (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Will Brown (Twin Falls, Idaho). Sanderson won silver in Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol, claiming the first Olympic quota for this event. Brown, following an impressive seventh-place finish at the World Cup in Fort Benning, Georgia, placed fourth in Men’s Free Pistol.
On the Rifle side, Michael McPhail (USAMU/Darlington, Wisconsin) also won his second consecutive gold medal in Men’s Prone and Amy Sowash (Richmond, Kentucky) finished in seventh place in Women’s Three-Position Rifle.
Through five of seven Olympic quota-qualifying competitions, the USA Shooting Team has earned nine of the 20 quotas (two per 10 events) available in Rifle/Pistol: Men’s Prone Rifle (2), Men’s Air Rifle (1), Women’s Air Rifle (1), Women’s Three-Position Rifle (1), Women’s Air Pistol (1), Men’s Air Pistol (1), Men’s Free Pistol (1) and Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol(1).
For complete results from the ISSF World Cup in Munich, please visit the ISSF website: https://www.issf-sports.org.
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ELEY is a Proud Sponsor of the USA Shooting Rifle and Pistol Teams: ELEY Limited, manufacturer of the world’s most consistently accurate rimfire ammunition, has been the Official Sponsor and Official Supplier of .22 rimfire ammunition of the USA Shooting rifle and pistol teams since 2000.
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About USA Shooting
USA Shooting, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, was chartered by the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for the sport of shooting in April 1995. USA Shooting’s mission is to prepare American athletes to win Olympic medals, promote the shooting sports throughout the U.S. and govern the conduct of international shooting in the country.
Check us out on the web at usashooting.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/USAShooting.