Ginny Thrasher won the very first Gold Medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. And now she has her sights set on another strong performance in the next Olympics, slated for Japan in 2021. Ginny Thrasher’s marksmanship success story started a decade ago at the age of 14 when she went on a hunting trip with her grandfather. From there she rose to stardom in collegiate shooting and then the Olympics.
In 2016 when Ginny earned Gold in Rio for Team USA she was the youngest American female to ever win a shooting Gold Medal. In first Olympic showing, she led the Women’s 10-meter air rifle and set a new Olympic record with a finals score of 208.0!
“There are so many feelings associated with 2016 for me … I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was the year that all athletes dream of”, the now 23-year-old said. “Going to the Olympics was one of the most amazing and singular once-in-a-lifetime experiences that not everyone gets … It was amazing,”
Returning to the United States after the Olympics in 2016 presented a swirling new world for Ginny. As a collegiate athlete on the West Virginia University (WVU) rifle team, she suddenly found herself the most famous person on campus — often stopped while walking to class or shopping for groceries, being asked for a picture or an autograph.
The overwhelming response of the country, from strangers to national media, turned attention to the sport of rifle shooting. That gave Ginny a sense of pride in the impact she had made for the entire marksmanship community: “That’s something that athletes in other sports experience all the time, but it’s not something rifle shooters typically experience,” she said. “I was very, very grateful to have the community support, and it was a lot of fun to go and be invited to different events and speak to different media outlets and truly represent my sport.”
She went on, “It was getting a lot of attention at a time when our sport is not very common, not a lot of people know what it is … So the more I could answer people’s questions to advocate and to educate, to me, that was a huge opportunity.”
With her medal carefully tucked away in a bank lockbox for safekeeping, Ginny has done her best to become accustomed to her new reality. As she went back to competing with her WVU teammates in 2016, she found herself sometimes distracted by the attention.
Today is an important day for Team USA shooters at the Rio Olympics. American rifle marksmen SFC Michael McPhail and David Higgins will be competing in the smallbore 50m prone event. In addition, 25m Pistol shooters will compete, and the Women’s Skeet Finals will be held this afternoon.
Schedule for the Remaining 2016 Olympic Shooting Events:
Friday, August 12
8:00 am – 50m Rifle Prone Men
8:00 am – Skeet Women
9:30 am – Skeet Men Day 1
10:00 am – Finals 50m Rifle Prone Men
11:15 am – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Stage 1
2:00 pm – Finals Skeet Women
Saturday, August 13
8:00 am – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Stage 2
8:30 am – Skeet Men Day 2
11:30 am – Finals 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
2:00 pm – Finals Skeet Men
Sunday, August 14
8:00 am – 50m Rifle 3-Position Men
12:00 pm – Finals 50m Rifle 3-Position Men
SFC Michael McPhail
Hopes are high for McPhail, one of the favorites to win a shooting Gold Medal in Rio. McPhail, ranked number one in the world in men’s 50-meter rifle prone, won the ISSF World Cup Finals in Munich this September. McPhail also won back-to-back gold medals at the ISSF World Cup events at Fort Benning, GA and Munich, Germany, held in May and early June of 2015. This is McPhail’s second Olympic appearance, so he understands what’s at stake: “The Olympics are unlike any other match you’ll ever shoot, the magnitude of it….”
SFC Michael McPhail, shown above, is currently ranked #1 in the world in the smallbore 50m prone rifle discipline. He’s one of the favorites to win Gold today in Rio.
David Higgins
Air Force Academy graduate David Higgins has been a competitive shooter since his early teens. “I was 13 when I first began shooting Rifle competitively, and I immediately knew that I wanted to pursue Rifle as my primary sport,” said Higgins.
Higgins recently graduated from the Air Force Academy and enjoys rock climbing, sailing and surfing in his free time. He now moves on to the next phase of his military career, having cross-commissioned into the Marine Corps upon graduation to become an infantry officer.
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Our friend, trick-shot ace Kirsten Joy Weiss, will be featured on the NRA All-Access TV show next week. As a performance shooter (and modern-day Annie Oakley) Weiss has focused her efforts to “bring the fun, challenge, and joy of shooting to a mainstream audience” via social media.
Watch Preview of NRA All Access with Kirsten Joy Weiss
Kirsten wants to be a good ambassador for the shooting sports, “spreading the positive reality of shooting”. Kirsten explains: “The fun challenge and joy of shooting is important to me because I really wanted to be a positive example. So when the media says the ‘guns are a bad thing and nobody does anything good with guns’, they can say ‘Well, what about her [Kirsten]’?”
A gifted “natural” shooter, Kirsten started shooting fairly late — at age 16. Despite her relatively late start, she learned very quickly, and managed to earn a place on the University of Nebraska shooting team. That literally opened up a new world for Kirsten: “During the course of my career, I’ve had a lot of success. I’ve gone to World Cups… in Zagreb, Croatia, in Munich, Germany. I’ve won National Championships, and got on to the U.S. Olympic short list, so it’s been a good career.”
In 2012, Kirsten was the top USA athlete-shooter at the Munich World Cup. She won the 2012 NRA Three-Position Women’s Smallbore Championship and also won the Standing Position, while finishing as the National Overall Woman Champion.
Kirsten tells us: “A lot of people don’t think of shooting as a sport, but it absolutely is, and I would even go so far as to say that it is an art form.” We don’t know if this is art, sport, or magic, but very few shooters have the skill or flexibility to make this upside-down shot…
This animated GIF shows Kirsten cutting a card in half with a .22 LR bullet. Impressive!
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We’re not much into computer or video games, but here is an interesting App for shooters that might actually help develop your visual skills and concentration. The new ShootingWorldCup-SWC interactive game simulates an Olympic-class air rifle competition. The soon-to-be released App for smart-phones and mobile devices is highly realistic. You can select a variety of high-end air rifles, adjust your sights, choose your shooting gear, and complete a World-Cup style match. As players “shoot” at regulation World Cup targets, the App plots shot impacts and records scores. You can even engage in multi-player tournaments, competing against other shooters around the world.
Video Previews Features of SWC Interactive Shooting App:
App lets you select a variety of premium Olympic-grade air rifles.
Sorry, this App has not yet been released, but you can go to www.shootingworld.com and request to be notified when the App is finalized.
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This week’s big story from the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning involves a lanky Army Reserve Marksman from Montana, Nick Mowrer. The shooting world was shocked when this “pistol guy” (a 50m Free Pistol shooter for the 2012 USA Olympic Team) took a bronze medal in a World Cup rifle competition. Yes, we said “rifle”. And get this — in the process of earning that World Cup bronze medal, Nick racked up enough points to become a triple distinguished marksman (three disciplines).
In the highest level of ISSF competition, it is very unusual for a pistol shooter to even compete in a rifle match. It is unheard-of that a pistol shooter would actually earn a medal. That is like an Olympic 100m spinter also medaling in the Marathon. It just doesn’t happen.
USAR Team shooter Nick Mowrer pulled off this remarkable accomplishment at the 2014 ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning. It’s not known whether a pistol specialist has ever earned a World Cup medal in rifle competition. In fact none of the experts from USA Shooting can recall another shooter who has even competed in both rifle and pistol categories at the same World Cup event. It appears Mowrer made history with his smallbore rifle Bronze medal. Competitive pistol shooters aren’t supposed to be good rifle shooters as well. Mowrer’s bronze-medal-winning performance has changed that view.
Cross-Training Works Well Mowrer Says
Will we see more pistoleros “cross the aisle” and shoot rifle? Only time will tell. But Mowrer believes that “cross-training” with both rifle and pistol has improved his overall marksmanship skills: “I have used prone smallbore (rifle) as cross training for pistol for years now and I am very excited to have the unique opportunity to represent the USA not only in pistol but rifle as well. I shoot multiple events, not only prone, but the reason is just the same; I use other shooting disciplines to be able to compete in more matches and gain more experience that I am able to then use in my pistol shooting! It also keeps shooting fun and exciting.” Read related USAR story.
Mowrer’s medal at Fort Benning has caused a stir among top-level World Cup shooters. The reigning Olympic gold medalist in Women’s 3-P rifle, Jamie Gray, recently posted:
“Today is an amazing day…our Olympic Pistol Shooter Nick Mowrer broke into the medals in Men’s Prone [rifle event]! Couldn’t be more excited for him and obviously his amazing shooting abilities! Nick… [took] a Prone Rifle Bronze, nothing more to say than AWESOME!”
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The 2014 ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning is underway, and some events have already finished, such as the 10m Air Rifle and 10m Air Pistol. The World Cup, which has attracted many of the world’s top rifle and pistol shooters, continues through April 3, 2014. Here are some photo highlights from the first three days of the Fort Benning World Cup. There were plenty of exotic, expensive rifles and pistols on display — plus a few small toy animals (favored by the lady shooters).
Young Russian Wins First Gold of the Competition
Nazar Luginets, 24, from the Russian Federation, won the first medal match of the competition, the 10m Air Rifle Men event. With 209.4 points, the Russian athlete beat Serbian Milutin Stefanovic, who finished just one tenth behind Luginets. The 2013 Euro Champion, Sergey Richter from Israel, finished third.
10m Air Rifle Winner Nazar Luginets
New Air Pistol Record Set
Hoang Xuan Vinh, from Vietnam, won the 10m Air Pistol Men final, setting a new world record in the process. Currently ranked 8th in the world, The Vietnamese pistol shooter pocketed the Gold medal with a record score of 202.8 points in the final, breaking the previous 202.3-point record set by the 2008 Olympic Champion Pang Wei of China. Hoang beat Russians finalists Sergey Chervyakovskiy, and Vladimir Gontcharov, 36, who finished in second and third place with 202.3 and 181.3 points, respectively. This was an important comeback for Gontcharov, a 14-time ISSF World Cup medalist. Vladimir who started competing back in 1990, had been far from ISSF podiums since 2012.
The International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup season kicks off right here in the USA, March 26 through April 3, 2014, in Fort Benning, Georgia. Many of the world’s best rifle and pistol shooters will be on hand — more than 400 competitors from 50 nations are expected to compete at the home of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU).
ISSF World Cup (Fort Benning) 2013 50m Rifle Prone Winner Valerian Sauveplane of France.
At the last Rifle/Pistol World Cup USA back in May 2013, the USA earned two medals with Will Brown winning a gold medal in Men’s 10m Air Pistol and Dempster Christenson winning a silver medal in Men’s Air Rifle. Highlights from last year’s ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning are featured in the 24-minute video linked below. The video covers both rifle and pistol disciplines.
Here is last year’s women’s 50m 3P winner at the Fort Benning World Cup, Andrea Arsovic of Serbia.
Complete ISSF World Cup (Fort Benning) Match Schedule
If you want to watch the matches,or meet some of the shooters here is a schedule for the all the events, starting with training sessions on March 27th.
Free is good — especially when it’s a free digital magazine about precision shooting. The latest digital edition of the ISSF News Magazine is now offered for both iOS (Apple) and Android OS devices. The downloadable ISSF Magazine is packed with content about competition shooting worldwide. The most recent December 2013 edition includes 34 articles, over 500 photos, and several videos, plus exclusive reports from the ISSF World Cup Finals. Each ISSF eZine is “self-contained”. That means, once you download an issue, you read it start to finish, even without a live web connection.
The ISSF News Tablet Magazine can be downloaded for free, in English and German. Pick the version that suits your hardware — Apps are offered for both Android tablets and for iPads. Bimonthly issues are published in February, April, June, August, October and December.
The ISSF News Tablet Magazine covers precision shooting around the globe. Each issue spotlights top shooters and the latest hardware — rifles, sights, accessories, ammo. You’ll find up-to-date coverage of top-level competitions, and these match reports feature videos, slide shows, and other interactive features made possible by modern, touch-screen tablet technology.
Preview iPad Version of ISSF Digital Magazine
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Original story by Marco Dalla Dea forISSF.
The ISSF has announced a new name and new competition for the ISSF Run & Shoot event. ISSF TARGET SPRINT will now be the official title for this action-filled ISSF “Sport for All” event. And the ISSF is organizing an international Target Sprint Grand Prix in Munich (GER) in May to promote the new sport. ISSF Target Sprint combines athletes’ precision shooting and running abilities. The new event mixes air rifle shooting and middle-distance running. It requires participants to be fast, accurate shooters and to possess outstanding physical fitness. LINK: ISSF-Sports.org.
You Provide the Running Shoes — ISSF Provides the Air Rifles
“A pair of running shoes is all you need. Everything is designed to keep costs down for the athletes. The ISSF will provide targets and single-shot air rifles,” explained ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber. “The game is as easy as it looks”, says Schreiber, “Competitors will run on a track or running path and then stop at the air gun range to shoot at falling targets on their assigned firing points. There are no complicated scoring systems — the first athlete to cross the finish line is the winner.”
ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña adds: “We are developing ISSF TARGET SPRINT under the rubric of Sport for All, a program now being strongly promoted by the IOC. We were looking for a new event that combines marksmanship and fitness, can be staged outdoors, and is accessible to everybody.”
How Does ISSF TARGET SPRINT Work?
ISSF Target Sprint participants begin each event with a mass start and a fixed distance run. At the end of the first run, normally 600 meters, they stop at a 10-meter air rifle range where they must pick up their rifles and shoot at and hit five knockdown targets from standing position. More than five shots are often required to hit all five targets, but that adds to the shooting time. There are no penalties, but the sooner you finish shooting, the sooner you can start running your next lap. At the end of the second run, participants must shoot another five targets before beginning the third and final running stage. The final rankings are clear and easy to understand. The athlete who completes the three running stages and two shooting stages and who is the first at the finish line is the winner.
ISSF TARGET SPRINT Competition this May at ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany
The new event will have its official 2013 inauguration during the 2013 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Munich, set for 23-30 May at the Hochbrück Olympic Shooting Range. The ISSF TARGET SPRINT competition will be held on the 26th of May.
Participation is open and more than 40 athletes have already registered to compete. World Cup participants who are interested in trying TARGET SPRINT are invited to bring their running shoes and clothing to Munich and give it a try.
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Four-time USA Olympian SFC Jason Parker won the ISSF World Cup Final, finishing ahead of Han Jinseop of South Korea and Olympic finalist Ole Krsitian Bryhn of Norway. Parker, a soldier serving with the USAMU, claimed the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final trophy in the Men’s Three-Position Rifle event Thursday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ranked ninth in the world, Parker earned his invitation to Bangkok after winning the Milan World Cup earlier this season. The 38-year-old Parker, no stranger to the World Cup Finals after six previous visits, made it to the final round with a head-start of four points after shooting an 1,171. Scoring 95.5 points during the final stage, Parker won gold with an overall score of 1266.5 points. Parker added. “”I have been competing in World Cup Finals since 1998, and dreaming of a gold medal since then. It’s finally around my neck, and it feels great!”
Three points behind him, Korea’s Han Jinseop pocketed the silver medal with an overall score of 1263.5 points. Making it to the final with 1166, Han overtook Norway’s Ole Kristian Bryhn to finish on the second step of the podium with a final score of 97.5 points. Bryhn landed in third, securing the Bronze medal with a total score of 1263.0 (1167+96.0) points.
Parker’s Olympic and USAMU teammate SFC Eric Uptagrafft took fourth in the World Cup Final Wednesday in the Men’s Prone Rifle event. (He finished .6 points away from second place). In other ISSF World Cup events in Bangkok, USAMU shotgunners did well. Josh Richmond earned the gold medal in Men’s Double Trap while Vincent Hancock shot his way to a silver medal in Men’s Skeet.
Elite Field for ISSF World Cup
Starting with the London World Cup in April and then passing through Milan and Munich, the 2012 ISSF World Cup Series finished in Bangkok. Only the sport’s top performers were invited to compete in the World Cup Finals. Ninety (90) shooters from 34 countries, including Olympic medalists and past World Cup title holders, competed at the Thailand ISSF World Cup Match this year. (Shown at right is SFC Parker competing at the Milan World Cup.)
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USAMU shooter SFC Jason Parker, the 2011 Continental American Champion, won the 50m Three Position (3P) Rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle & Pistol World Cup in Milan, Italy. With an overall score of 1273.1 points, Parker topped runner-up Niccolò Campriani (Italy), by almost three points, earning the American soldier his fifth ISSF World Cup Gold medal. Jason apparently likes Italy — in 2001 SFC Parker won an ISSF World Cup Gold medal in Milan.
SFC Parker told reporters: “I won my first international medal ever here in Milan, so it’s great to be back on this podium. We have our national Olympic trials kicking off in a few days: the 2012 Olympic team will be decided there. It’s good to walk into the trials knowing that everything works fine, and that I can score well under pressure.”
Despite extremely windy conditions in Milan, SFC Parker shot a great match. Parket noted: “I am quite confident with the wind. I adjusted my sights with a couple of clicks and knew how to react. I had no problems.” Team USA shooting coach, Major Dave Johnson, praised Parker: “This was a vintage performance from Jason today. There wasn’t anything truly big or flashy about the way he shot, but he made no mistakes all day and was just very consistent.”
Watch Highlights from Mens’ 50m 3-Position in ISSF World Cup Milan
Twenty-one USA Shooting athletes, including 10 Olympians, are in Italy for their final International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup event before the London 2012 Olympic Games. The ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events continues tomorrow with Women’s 50m Three-Position Rifle, Women’s 25m Pistol and Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol. Through three days of competition, the USA Shooting Team has earned three top-10 finishes following a sixth-place finish for Sarah Scherer (Woburn, Mass.) and a 10th-place finish by Jamie Gray (Lebanon, Pa.) in Women’s 10m Air Rifle.
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Magdalena Neuner — Germany’s 2011 Athlete of the Year Chalk one up for the Germans. While the American media spotlights substance-addicted actresses and foul-mouthed female hip-hop artists as “role models” for young girls, perhaps the most popular young woman in Germany is a healthy, hard-working biathlete named Magdalena Neuner. Miss Neuner was recently named Female Athlete of the Year in Germany (she also received this honor in 2007). The 24-year-old Magdalena was raised in a small village in Bavaria, where she started biathlon training at age nine.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Neuner is the most successful woman biathlete of all time, having won 10 World Championships, along with two Overall World Cup Titles. She is the youngest triple-World Champion in biathlon ever. As of December 2011, Neuner has won 26 World Cup races and has achieved 50 podium finishes. (That ranks Magdalena third all-time for career victories.) During five appearances at Biathlon World Championships, Neuner has claimed ten gold and three silver medals. In addition, she has won seven junior world championship titles.
While she is an excellent shot with her Anschütz straight-pull, Fortner action .22LR biathlon rifle, Neuner’s secret of success is her speed. Neuner has always been one of the fastest cross-country skiers in biathlon.
Neuner started biathlon when she was nine years old. After winning numerous junior world championships, she made her World Cup debut in 2006 and won her first World Cup race in January 2007. One month later, she claimed three gold medals in her first appearance at the Biathlon World Championships.
Sadly, it looks like Magdalena will be leaving biathlon next year. Magda recently announced that she would retire from the sport at the end of 2011–12 season, saying that “the time is right for a change” and that she wants to start a family. When not competing, Neuner works as a German Customs Officer.
A gifted “natural” shooter, Kirsten started shooting fairly late — at age 16. Despite her relatively late start, she learned very quickly, and managed to earn a place on the University of Nebraska shooting team. That literally opened up a new world for Kirsten: “During the course of my career, I’ve had a lot of success. I’ve gone to World Cups… in Zagreb, Croatia, in Munich, Germany. I’ve won National Championships, and got on to the U.S. Olympic short list, so it’s been a good career.”
USAR Team shooter Nick Mowrer pulled off this remarkable accomplishment at the 2014 ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning. It’s not known whether a pistol specialist has ever earned a World Cup medal in rifle competition. In fact none of the experts from 
New Air Pistol Record Set
ISSF TARGET SPRINT Competition this May
Four-time USA Olympian SFC Jason Parker won the ISSF World Cup Final, finishing ahead of Han Jinseop of South Korea and Olympic finalist Ole Krsitian Bryhn of Norway. Parker, a soldier serving with the USAMU, claimed the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final trophy in the Men’s Three-Position Rifle event Thursday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Elite Field for ISSF World Cup
USAMU shooter SFC Jason Parker, the 2011 Continental American Champion, won the 50m Three Position (3P) Rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle & Pistol World Cup in Milan, Italy. With an overall score of 1273.1 points, Parker topped runner-up Niccolò Campriani (Italy), by almost three points, earning the American soldier his fifth ISSF World Cup Gold medal. Jason apparently likes Italy — in 2001 SFC Parker won an ISSF World Cup Gold medal in Milan.
Chalk one up for the Germans. While the American media spotlights substance-addicted actresses and foul-mouthed female hip-hop artists as “role models” for young girls, perhaps the most popular young woman in Germany is a healthy, hard-working biathlete named 
While she is an excellent shot with her Anschütz straight-pull, Fortner action .22LR biathlon rifle, Neuner’s secret of success is her speed. Neuner has always been one of the fastest cross-country skiers in biathlon. 
