Staff Sergeants Rachel Tozier and Will Hinton of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Division qualify for the Olympics in trap shooting during the USA Shooting Shotgun Olympic Trials in Tucson, Arizona (USA Shooting)
Two U.S. Army soldiers who earned spots on the U.S. Shooting Team Sunday will have a shot at Olympic medals in Paris this summer.
Staff Sergeants Rachel Tozier and Will Hinton of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Division qualified for the shooting competition from July 26 to August 26. The 11th Olympic Games in Trap Shooting was held at the USA Shooting Shotgun Olympic Trials in Tucson, Arizona. The competition was held from March 11th to 17th and ended on Sunday. Also earning spots were Ryan Phillips in women's trap and Derrick Main in men's trap.
Tozier and Hinton, both of Fort Moore, Ga., competed side-by-side with the nation's top trap shooters, including past Olympic medalists, in 10 25-target qualifying rounds.
Tozier, of Pattonsburg, Missouri, defeated 49 other competitors in women's trap. Hinton, of Dacula, Georgia, beat out 121 other gunmen. Both soldiers are instructors and competitive shooters on the USAMU shotgun team.
“It's not really happening right now, but it's pretty awesome,” Hinton said. “It's been tough all this time because I've been able to accomplish quite a few goals, so now I've taken care of the work that I've put in and I'm here now. Everything that I've done, you know, , all of my training has gotten me to where I am now, so I have to trust that and I'm really happy to be joining the team.”
This week, more U.S. Army soldiers will be aiming for Olympic spots in the rifle and pistol divisions during a three-day event in Fort Moore, Georgia.
Participants from across the country will compete in four events from Sunday to Tuesday: women's 25m sport pistol, men's rapid fire pistol, and men's and women's 50m smallbore.
Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Command's International Rifle Team will qualify for the men's and women's 50-meter smallbore events. They will compete in qualifying events Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Final competition and Team USA selection will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. for the men and 3:15 p.m. for the women.
In January, Sgt. Sargen Maddalena and Sgt. Ivan Low qualified for the 10m Air Rifle Trials. Lowe, of Bozeman, Montana, will be competing in his first Olympics. This will be the second Olympics for Maddalena, of Groveland, California. She competed in the 50m smallbore event at the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics and placed fifth.
U.S. Army Sergeants Sagen Maddalena and Ivan Lo compete in the 10-meter air rifle at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) Judith Legursky Competition Center in Anniston, Alabama, January 5-7, 2024. He earned a spot on Team USA in the competition. (Michelle Lunat) /U.S. Army)
