Competition for Rifle/Pistol World Cup Final

[USA Shooting]

Competition for Rifle/Pistol World Cup Final to Begin Monday in Bangkok, Thailand



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (October 30, 2008) - Seven U.S. shooters will compete at the 2008 ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup Final November 3-5 in Bangkok, Thailand. Among the athletes competing will be five members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, including silver medalist in men’s prone, Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.) and men’s air pistol bronze medalist Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.).



The top shooters in the world are invited by the ISSF to attend the World Cup Final based on performances in the World Cup circuit throughout the year.



Emmons, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the Men’s 50m Prone Rifle event, is the 2007 World Cup Final silver medalist in prone and also earned a bronze in the prone event at the World Cup Milan this past May. He will be competing in the Men’s 50m 3 Position Rifle and Men’s 10m Air Rifle events as well as the prone event in Bangkok.



Shooting along with Emmons in the prone event will be U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) member Michael McPhail (Darlington, Wis.), who won the bronze medal at the World Cup in Beijing in April. The men’s prone event will take place on Monday, November 3, along with the Men’s 50m Pistol event, in which USAMU member and three-time Olympian Daryl Szarenski (Saginaw, Mich) earned the spot to compete after taking home the bronze at the Beijing World Cup.



The men’s 3 position competition will take place on Tuesday, November 3 with Emmons, the reigning World Cup Final champion in this event, being the only U.S. competitor who qualified for a spot.



Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.), a 2008 Olympian and the Women’s 50m 3 Position Rifle silver medalist from the Milan World Cup will be in Bangkok to compete in the women’s 3 position event, along with 2004 Olympian Morgan Hicks (Roy, Wash.). Hicks, who is currently the Head Coach for the University of Nebraska Rifle Team, captured the gold medal in the women’s 3 position event at the World Cup in March in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



The final day of competition at the 2008 Rifle/Pistol World Cup Final will take place on Wednesday, November 5 with two-time Olympian Emily Caruso competing for a spot on the podium in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event. Emmons will vie for a medal in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event and two-time Olympian Jason Turner will be looking for his first ever World Cup Final medal in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol event.



For more information and complete results throughout the World Cup Final, please visit www.issf.tv.





Mary Beth Vorwerk

USA Shooting

Media and Public Relations Manager

719-866-4896

www.usashooting.org