Sunday GunDay: Will Shaner Wins Air Rifle Olympic Gold Medal

20-Year-Old William Shaner just won the USA’s second Gold Medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The University of Kentucky marksman captured Gold in the 10-meter (10m) Air Rifle, setting an Olympic record in the process. Shaner scored 251.6 points in the 10m final to set a new Olympic Record that’s just 1.2 points shy of the world record. Will scored 10.5 or above on 13 of his 24 shots in the final. At the Tokyo Games, William was shooting a Walther Air Rifle.

William hails from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started his shooting career at age nine in a 4H program in the appropriately named town of Rifle, Colorado.

Watch Will Shaner capture Gold with a stellar shooting performance, broadcast by NBC Sports:

CLICK HERE for Yahoo News Video about William Shaner Gold Medal in 10M Air Rifle.

Young Will Shaner Was Calm After Record-Setting Victory
USA Today reported: “Will Shaner reacted like someone who could not wrap his head around the idea he’d won a Gold Medal. There were no yells, no fist pumps, no jumping, as Shaner captured U.S. Shooting’s first-ever Gold Medal in the men’s 10 meter air rifle. Hardly a wave, even. If he was smiling, you couldn’t tell, as a massive Nike Team USA mask covered almost his entire face.

“Still trying to believe it”, he said afterward. “It’s been a long time, though, growing up in the sport, progressing. To finally have (the gold medal), it’s amazing.”

“Yesterday, [was] a little bit of a slow start for everyone,” he said, as Team USA went without a medal on the first day of competition for the first time in nearly 50 years. “Today, to (help) finally get it moving, it’s amazing. It’s really an honor.”

Will Shaner Becomes Social Media Star After Winning Gold Medal

Team USA Tweeted news of Shaner’s Gold Medal-winning performance to fans around the world. Because Will set a new Olympic Record, one respondent called him the “GOAT” (greatest of all time). Well, that may be hyperbole, but Shaner did achieve the greatest 10m Air Rifle final score in Olympics history.

20-year-old Will Shaner earned the second Gold Medal of the Tokyo Olympics for the United States. Will, who hails from Colorado Springs, CO, won the men’s 10-meter air rifle on Sunday with a final round score of 251.6 at the Asaka Shooting Range, edging out China’s Sheng Lihao, 16, by 0.7. China’s Yang Haoran took the bronze medal, finishing just 0.4 behind Sheng.

— Shaner set a new Olympic record with a score of 251.6

— The 20-year-old is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Kentucky

— The silver medal winner, Sheng Lihao of China, is only 16 years old

— Shaner’s victory was the first Gold Medal ever won in this 10m event by the United States

— Shaner first started his marksmanship training at Age 9 at a 4H Program in Rifle, Colorado

Watch Shaner Win Gold and stand on podium on NBC4 New York:

CLICK PHOTO to watch video on NBC 4 New York.

Will Shaner — From Colorado, to Kentucky, to Olympic Glory

William is one of two University of Kentucky (UK) Rifle athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics. As one of the nation’s top prospects coming into college, he was named NCAA Rookie of the Year his freshman year and was an All-American First Team member in air rifle and smallbore. William finished second in the NCAA Air Rifle individual championship in addition to winning the team gold with Kentucky his sophomore year. He repeated this exact feat with again with UK his junior year.

Will has done well in international competition. Shooting Sports USA noted: “Foreshadowing his Olympic performance … earlier this year Shaner won a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Croatia.”

William started in shooting sports when he was 9 years old at a small 4-H program in Rifle, Colorado. From there, he moved on to shooting monthly preliminary tryout (PTO) events at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center until he could start qualifying for major matches. He won his first Junior Olympic Gold Medal at age 11 in 50m prone and made the Junior National Team at age 14 which propelled him into the international circuit. Fast forward less than a decade and William is, according to known USAS records, the youngest U.S. Men’s Olympic Rifle Qualifier.

William Shaner also shoots Smallbore Rifle (.22 LR) for the University of Kentucky:

CLICK PHOTO to view full-screen image of Shaner with Bleiker .22 LR Rifle.

Driven by the pursuit of perfection and appreciation for his small-town roots, Will strives to be a role model for the next generation of shooting athletes. He credits his successes to coaches and support from the National Training Center Shooting Club (NTCSC), USA Shooting, and the University of Kentucky.

Team USA Rifle Shooters at 2021 Tokyo Olympics

USA Shooting has sent 20 Olympians to the Tokyo Olympic Games to represent the United States in the able-bodied shooting sports (there is a separate Paralympic shooting team). Our athletes have earned 8 quotas for the shotgun disciplines, 8 quotas for the rifle disciplines, and 6 quotas for the pistol disciplines (22 total). Here are the 8 Rifle Competitors, the four Air Rifle shooters and four Smallbore shooters: