Three Frogs Shoot At World Cup USA
5/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rifle
Sarah Beard's performance was key for Team USA as she earned the country an all-important quota in women's air rifle for the upcoming games in Rio de Janeiro. While she didn't medal at the World Cup, she finished fifth with a score of 416.1. Quota Places are country-related: the athlete wins a quota place, which is then owned by his/her country. Each country is free to decide how to use the Quota Places won by its athletes. Therefore, the athlete who secures a Quota Place is not automatically qualified for the Games, as the final decision is to be taken by his/her national team.
Current team members Hannah Black and Sally Li also had strong showings at the World Cup competing in the women's 3-position smallbore event. They survived the elimination round to advance to the qualification round. Elimination relays are required when there are more competitors than can fire the match at one time. The smallbore events are held outdoor and conditions can be dramatically different throughout the day so the top shooters from each elimination relay then move on to the qualification round where they all begin and end at the same time and have the same wind/lighting conditions.
Hannah Black shot a 575 with 21 center shots on elimination day followed by a 576 with 23 center shots to finish in 44th place. Sally Li fired an elimination score of 574 with 31 center shots and followed it with a 569 and 24 center shots to finish in 61st place. Both athletes earned an MQS (minimum qualifying score) at this competition and are now eligible to compete in the Olympic Games should they be nominated as a team member.
The MQS is a minimum score that an athlete must have recorded at least once in the set time frame, in order to become eligible to take part in the Olympic Games. Li shot in an MQS Slot (each country can have three entries shooting for medals and two additional who are only eligible to earn an MQS) and fired a 414.1, which was well above the minimum score for the event.
The next World Cup for the season will take place May 26-June 2 in Munich Germany. Black and Beard will both be in attendance.
Players Mentioned
