The USA Shooting Paralympic team earned two medals and two U.S. Paralympic quotas for the Paris 2024 Games while competing at the 2024 World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) New Delhi World Cup March 6-15.
McKenna Geer, Benjamin Hays, and Madison Champion kicked off the team’s accomplishments with a bronze medal in Team R4 10m Air Rifle SH2 Standing. This was Geer’s first international match since giving birth to her first child a little over a year ago. Geer is a 2016 Paralympic bronze medalist in R5 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2 and a Tokyo Paralympian.
The team’s bronze medal marks Hays’ and Champion’s first international medal of their shooting careers. The duo added another medal to their collection by earning silver in R11 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team SH2 Standing. The Americans earned a spot in the gold medal match after shooting a combined score of 627.4. Champion placed first overall in the qualification round with a score of 314.5 and Hays finished third overall in the qualification round with a score of 312.9.
Champion also earned the U.S. a Paralympic quota in R4 10m Air Rifle SH2 Standing. The U.S. team now has two quotas in this event meaning the team can qualify two athletes for Paris 2024 in the event. Champion, a Greenville, Texas, native, is looking to qualify for her first Paralympic Games.
Kevin Nguyen, a Tokyo Paralympian, also earned the U.S. a Paralympic quota for the Paris Games in R6 50m Rifle Prone. Nguyen, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, is no stranger to international success. At the 2023 Parapan American Games he earned a bronze medal in R6 50m Rifle Prone and at the 2023 WSPS Changwon World Cup he earned bronze in the R6 50m Prone Rifle team event.
See the full list of accomplishments from the WSPS World Cup below:
- McKenna Geer, Benjamin Hays, and Madison Champion: Bronze in Team R4 10m Air Rifle SH2 Standing
- Madison Champion: U.S. Paralympic Quota for Paris in R4 10m Air Rifle SH2 Standing
- Benjamin Hays and Madison Champion: Silver in R11 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team SH2 Standing
- Kevin Nguyen: U.S. Paralympic Quota for Paris in R6 50m Rifle Prone
The U.S. Paralympic team is getting ready to compete in their third and final trials for the Paris 2024 Games. Part three will be held in Anniston and Talladega, Alabama, April 21-28.
Follow @USAShooting on social media for competition updates and results.
USA Shooting would like to thank the NRA Foundation for being our sole platinum sponsor. The NRA Foundation is dedicated to protecting our Second Amendment freedoms by supporting activities that promote safe and responsible firearms ownership. Learn more here.
Read the full article here
