World Cup Gold and Quota slot for USAS

[USAS]

Benning SPC wins World Cup Gold

By USA Shooting

LONATO, Italy - A Soldier with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit of Fort Benning, Ga., brought home a Gold Medal and an Olympic Quota Slot to the United States after his victory at the International Shooting Sport Federation Shotgun World Cup June 11.

Spc. Joshua M. Richmond outshot 66 of the world's best double trap shooters to win the Gold Medal and an Olympic Quota Slot in Men's Double Trap after hitting 191 targets out of a possible 200.

The 21-year-old Soldier cruised to the victory after shooting a
142 in the qualification rounds, just one point ahead of India's Ronjan Sodhi. Richmond fired a 47 in both the first and third rounds, and a 48 in his second round of shots. He was also the top finisher in the final, shooting a 49 for the Gold Medal finish with an overall score of 191.
Following in second with a combined score of 188 was Russia's Vitaly Fokeev, and hometown hero Daniele Di Spigno of Italy followed in third with a total of 187.

USAMU's Spc. Jeffrey G. Holguin barely missed the finals and landed in seventh place with 137 points, and Staff Sgt. William H.
Keever of the USAMU shot a 129 for 41st place.

The USA now has all of its required quota slot positions needed for U.S. athletes to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in the Shotgun discipline. Team USA has so far won 21 quota slots out of a possible 28 for the Beijing Olympics; 10 of those slots were won by USAMU Soldiers.
The USA still needs to secure quota slots in Pistol (Women's Sport Pistol, Men's and Women's Air Pistol, Men's Free Pistol and Men's Rapid Fire Pistol) and Rifle (Women's Air Rifle and Men's Free Rifle Prone).

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade of the U.S. Army Accessions Command. The Marksmanship Unit trains its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usaac.army.mil or http://www.usaac.army.mil/amu/. USA Shooting is recognized by the U.S.
Olympic Committee and the International Shooting Sport Federation as the national governing body for the Olympic and international shooting sports in the United States. For more information on USA Shooting, contact media director Mary Beth Vorwerk at (719) 866-4896, marybethvorwerk@usashooting.org or http://www.usashooting.com.)