Haley Dunn Wins Gold Medal at Shotgun World Cup
Haley Dunn claimed her first Gold medal of 2010 at the shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy, taking her first step toward the 2012 Olympic Games. Dunn, ranked #1 in the USA, is making her second appearance on the 2010 World Cup circuit. Smashing 73 out of 75 targets, she entered the Final with a one target lead over the rest of the field. Missing only one target in the Final, Dunn ended the day hitting 97 out of 100.
“This is so exciting for me. It’s great to be back on the World Cup podium, it’s been a while”, said Dunn, “I am back and my next aim is the World Championships in Munich.” Dunn, the alternate at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing won her last medal at the World Cup in Kerrville, TX in 2008. She also took Gold at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro. In a field of 60 women that included Olympic and World Champions, Dunn dominated the competition, never relinquishing her lead. “In 2008, I lost the spot on the U.S. Olympic team by one target,” she said. “After that, it took me a while to reevaluate all my thoughts and feelings. I now feel that I finally made it.”
Dunn has traveled to over 20 different countries representing the United States, competing in Olympic skeet and winning more than 25 Gold Medals and other awards. An alternate on the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic teams, Dunn hopes to represent the USA at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Haley Dunn — From Farm-Girl to International Champion
Growing up on a farm in Eddyville, Iowa, Haley Dunn began shooting with her father at the age of eight. She began shootgunning competitively at age 12. At 14, Dunn entered the Iowa State Sporting Cays Championship and won the Gold Medal, the youngest lady champion in the event’s history. She went on to claim the Iowa state championship three more times, and won the Missouri State Ladies’ Sporting Clays Championship twice.
When Dunn was just 15, she competed in the Junior Olympic Championships in Olympic Skeet. Dunn won the Silver Medal and a spot on the USA Junior Olympic Team. Nine months later at the 2001 World Championships in Egypt, Dunn won the Gold Medal in the Junior Category. She went on to win another Gold Medal at the Junior World Championships in Suhl, Germany. Later on that year, at the USA National Championships, Dunn took the Gold Medal in the Junior Division and with an impressive fourth place finish in the Women’s Open Division.
After high school (where she competed in softball and track), Haley enrolled in the Univ. of Missouri-Columbia, graduating with a degree in Agricultural Business Management in 2007. Active with the Mizzou Shooting Team, Dunn won the Gold Medal and HOA Ladies Championship at the ACUI Intercollegiate Clay Target National Championships.
