Three USA Shooting Athletes Earned International Distinguished Badges in 2024

2024 awardees included a two-time Championship of the Americas gold medalist, an Olympic silver medalist and a Junior World Champion.

By Gary Anderson, DCM Emeritus^*

The U. S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge is one of the most prestigious awards U. S. Shooting Sports athletes can earn because it honors high ranking performances in international championships governed by the  International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS). During each competition year, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and USA Shooting (USAS) recognize and honor the USA Shooting athletes who earn the badge.  In the 2024 competition year, which included the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games Shooting events, there were three athletes who won this award.  The three 2024 Badge winners were U. S. Army Sergeant Ivan Roe, Olympic medalist Conner Prince and Junior World Champion Braden Peiser. 

2024 INTERNATIONAL DISTINGUISHED BADGE WINNERS.  The 2024 Badge winners are listed in the chart.  Short biographies of their accomplishments are provided in the order of their Badge numbers. 

Ivan Roe, Manhattan MT, Age 29, Badge #554.  Ivan Roe got his start while shooting as a Junior with the Gallatin Valley Sharpshooters in Montana.  He attended college at Murray State University in Kentucky and competed on their rifle team.  Roe joined the U. S. Army in 2019 and has been a member of the Army International Rifle Team since then.  His notable international accomplishments include gold medal victories in the 2022 and 2024 Championship of the Americas (CAT) Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event.  His 2024 CAT victory earned him the final credit points for his International Distinguished Badge.  The USA had two 2024 Olympic quotas for men’s rifle events and Roe led USA Shooting’s Olympic qualifying competitions for both Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position and 10m Air Rifle.  He competed in all three men’s rifle events in France, finishing 18^th in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team, 20^th in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position and 34^th in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle events.

Conner Prince, Burleson TX, Age 24, Badge #555.Conner Prince got his start in Shooting in his high school clay target program.  While shooting in high school, he was introduced to the international skeet event.  Prince was hooked and his shooting career took off from there.  He started working with then two-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock in 2018 and shortly after that made his first USA Shooting team in 2019. Prince has enjoyed great success internationally and recently qualified for his first Olympic Games. One of the great stories from the 2024 Olympic Shooting occurred in the Men’s Skeet event where the USA’s Vincent Hancock became only the fourth Olympic athlete to win four gold medals in the same Olympic event.  The other three are Al Oerter, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps.  The irony of this great story is that Hancock’s protégé Conner Prince almost won that Skeet gold medal.  He led all qualifiers with a 124×125 and he was tied with Hancock for the lead in the event final until the last two doubles when Hancock narrowly edged Prince four to three.  Prince’s Olympic silver medal qualified him for the International Distinguished Badge.

Braden Peiser, San Angelo TX, Age 20, Badge #556.  Braden Peiser accomplished the rare feat of qualifying for the International Distinguished Badge while he was still a junior.  He rose to the top of this country’s junior ranks while competing with the Texas Hill Country Juniors.  He was a member of their 2022 team that won the CMP Three-Position Air Rifle National Precision Team Championship.  Peiser is now a sophomore at the University of Kentucky where he is helping the UK rifle team advance through another successful intercollegiate season.  During the recent 2025 NCAA Rifle Championship Peiser’s 1190 total score ranked second among all competitors.     He excelled in the 2024 ISSF Junior World Championship in Lima, Peru by winning a bronze medal in the Junior Men’s 10m Air Rifle event and then winning gold in the Junior Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event.  That gave him a total of the 30 points needed to be awarded his International Distinguished Badge.  Peiser won his gold medal and reached 30 points with a truly dramatic finish.  He was in second place with one shot to go in the final.  He shot a 10.7 on his last shot to win the gold medal by a scant 0.1 points. 

The CMP and USA Shooting extend their sincere congratulations to the three USA Shooting athletes who through their outstanding performances in 2024 ISSF international competitions added their names to the roster of 530 athletes who have now earned the U. S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge. 

Here is some background information about the U. S. International Distinguished Badge and how athletes qualify to be awarded the badge:

DISTINGUISHED BADGE HISTORY.  The USA’s Distinguished Badge Program traces its history back to the first gold Distinguished Marksman Badges awarded by the U. S. Army in 1887.  This program, which has been administered by the CMP since 1996, offers competitors opportunities to earn 11 different Distinguished Badges.  Of those 11 badges, the one that is most difficult to earn is the U. S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge.  To earn this badge, a rifle, pistol, or shotgun athlete must first qualify for a USA Shooting National Team that represents the USA in ISSF or WSPS Championships.  ISSF Championships include the Olympic Games, World Shooting Championships, World Cups, Pan American Games and Championships of the Americas (CAT).  WSPS Championships for athletes with disabilities include the Paralympic Games, WSPS World Championships, and the Parapan American Games. Junior athletes are eligible to earn International Distinguished credit points in Junior World Championships.  

QUALIFYING FOR THE BADGE.  Making a USA Shooting National Team is only the first step in earning the Badge. A National Team member must then earn 30 or more International Distinguished credit points with medal-winning or high place finishes in ISSF or WSPS Championships. Credit points vary from 30 points awarded for Olympic or Paralympic Games gold, silver, or bronze medals to five points awarded for third place finishes in the Pan American and Parapan Games. Ten and 5 points are awarded for medal finishes in Junior World Championships.  Earning an Olympic or Paralympic Quota Place for the USA merits 10 bonus points.  

BADGE REGULATIONS. Regulations for awarding the International Distinguished Badge are found in the current CMP Smallbore Rifle and Air Rifle/Air Pistol Rulebooks.  Copies of those rulebooks can be viewed or downloaded at: http://thecmp.org/competitions/cmp-competitions-rulebooks/. The CMP maintains records of all international distinguished credit points earned by USA Shooting athletes who have not yet received the International Distinguished Badge.  Athletes can check their records by logging on to:  https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=reportShootersWithDistinguishedPoints. Questions about international badge status should be addressed to [email protected]. 

GOVERNING BODIES.  USA Shooting (https://www.usashooting.org/) is the U. S. National Governing Body for Olympic and Paralympic Shooting sports.  USAS is responsible for selecting, training and supporting USA Shooting National Teams that represent the USA in ISSF or WSPS Championships.  The International Distinguished Badge was instituted by the Department of Defense in 1963, pursuant to recommendations from the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice.  Responsibility for administering this program was transferred to the CMP when Congress and the U. S. President established the Civilian Marksmanship Program as a federally-chartered, non-profit corporation in 1996.  The CMP now administers the Program in accordance with authority granted to it by federal law (36 USC §40722 (3). 

The U. S. Government’s decision to establish the U. S. Distinguished International Shooter Badge was initiated by the CMP’s predecessor agency, the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, during the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.  The Soviet Union (USSR) dominated international shooting competitions in the Olympics and World Championships at that time.  In response, NBPRP and Army Marksmanship Unit leaders sought to encourage the development of U. S. marksmen who could “beat the Russians” and win medals in international championships by establishing this prestigious award.  The Badge is especially prized among military personnel because it is authorized to be worn on military uniforms.   A detailed history of this Distinguished Badge is posted on the CMP website at http://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/USDISBHistory.pdf. After the first International Distinguished Badges were presented in 1963 to U. S. athletes who won medals in the 1962 World Championship, the awarding of the Badge was made retroactive to recognize U. S. international medal winners going back to the end of the 19^th century.  This roster of badge winners covers over 120 years of history involving some truly remarkable American rifle, pistol, running target, shotgun and paralympic athletes.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.