The USA Shooting Team has returned from the 12th Championship of the Americas (CAT) in Guadalajara, Mexico with 39 medals and eight Olympic quotas.
Winning gold medals at CAT that garnered Olympic quotas for the United States were Dempster Christenson in Men’s Air Rifle (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), George Norton in Men’s Three-Position Rifle (Salina, Kansas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit), James Hall in Men’s Air Pistol (Anniston, Alabama), Frank Thompson in Men’s Skeet (Alliance, Nebraska), Mindy Milesin Women’s Air Rifle (Weatherford, Texas), Sarah Beard in Women’s Three-Position Rifle (Danville, Indiana), Alexis Lagan in Women’s Sport Pistol (Boulder City, Nevada) and Kayle Browning in Women’s Trap (Wooster, Arkansas). Overall, the USA Shooting team won 25 gold medals at CAT.
The Shooting Confederation of the Americas (Confederaciòn Americana de Tiro – CAT) was founded and recognized by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) in 1973 as the Continental Confederation for the Shooting Sport for all countries of the North and South America. Every four years, the shooting teams from North and South America meet at CAT to compete for Olympic and Pan American Games quotas.
Eight Olympic quotas was the most won by any nation at CAT, while Canada, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru each secured one slot. Earning an Olympic quota in competition ensures the country a spot in that particular event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, not necessarily the athlete. The eight Olympic quotas earned in Guadalajara in Athletes will earn Olympic Team slots via a trials system established by USA Shooting.
CAT was also the only opportunity for athletes to earn quotas for the Pan American Games next summer in Lima, Peru. The USA Shooting Team earned the maximum 24 quotas to the 2019 Pan American Games. Two Olympic quotas will be available in each individual event at the Pan American Games and is the last chance for athletes to earn quotas prior to the 2020 Olympic Games.
Between the ISSF World Championship in September in Changwon, South Korea and CAT, the United States has won 12 Olympic quotas, as well as the maximum number of quotas possible (two) in Men’s and Women’s Skeet and Men’s Three-Position Rifle. Additional opportunities for the United States to win Olympic quotas will be at the ISSF World Cups throughout 2019, in addition to the Pan American Games.
