Tichenor and Tagliapietra in Rio

[USA Shooting]

http://www.usashooting.org/news/2016/9/ ... mpic-games

Tagliapietra 12th, Tichenor 28th in P3 at Paralympic Games

RIO DE JANEIRO (September 11, 2016)
Michael Tagliapietra posted the highest finish for U.S. shooters thus far when he finished in 12th place today in P3 (Mixed 25m Pistol SH1) at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tagliapietra (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, right), a first-time Paralympian and a favorite in the event, struggled a bit through the Precision stage to land in 25th place with a score of 275. He climbed steadily throughout the Rapid stage after each 10-shot series, but was only able to climb to 12th place (561).

“I failed to handle the pressure,” Tagliapietra said. “It’s really disappointing. Four years of intense training to do this.”

Tagliapietra will compete in one more event at the Paralympic Games when he shoots P4 (Mixed 50m Pistol SH1) on Wednesday. He finished in 30th place in the P1 (Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1) event earlier this week.

Shaun Tichenor (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Brainerd, Minnesota, pictured right) also climbed throughout the match. He was in 31st place following the Precision stage with a score of 268. After the Rapid Fire stage, he finished the competition in 28th place (529).

“I’m happy. I had fun and I’m feeling good,” Tichenor said as he finished his first Paralympic Games. “I shot good shots and the bad shots were just due to lack of training [due to his last-minute addition to the Team]. I’ll be back in 2020. This match just showed that I still have the foundation to build from. Now I’ve got four years to fully train for it and be completely ready for Tokyo.”

Tichenor was added to the Paralympic Team just days before the Team departed for Rio. Read more about the additions to the shooting team here: http://www.usashooting.org/news/2016/8/ ... ympic-team. Tichenor also competed in the P1 event at the Paralympic Games and finished 32nd place.

For results from the Qualification stages of the P3 event: https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/ ... qual-rapid.

Xing Huang of China won the gold medal in P3, followed by Joackim Norberg of Sweden with silver and Ju Hee Lee of South Korea with bronze.

The shooters of Team USA have the day off tomorrow and will resume action on Tuesday with the R5(Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2) competition. Jazmin Almlie-Ryan (Houston, Texas) won gold in R5 at the 2015 IPC World Cup in Fort Benning, Georgia in November. She and teammate McKenna Dahl (Arlington, Washington) make regular appearances in the Finals on the World Cup circuit, but Dahl has yet to win an international medal in the event.

The race for dominance in this event is tight as Finals and Qualification World Record holder Dragan Ristic of Ukraine, Paralympic Champion Vasyl Kovalchuk of Ukraine and World Champion Minna Leinonen of Finland will all compete and have been strong throughout the past IPC World Cup season.

For complete results and schedules from the shooting events at the 2016 Paralympic Games, please visit: https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/shooting.