Airgun Shooter Added to 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team
Good fortune was bestowed upon another USA Shooting Team athlete yesterday with the news that active-duty soldier Shaun Tichenor was being added to the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team.
Tichenor, a pistol shooter for the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) in Fort Benning, Georgia, joins his colleague Staff Sgt. John Joss from the USAMU on the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team during the Rio Paralympic Games in September.
Tichenor will join the team and compete in the sport pistol and air pistol events. Joss will compete in the prone rifle and air rifle events. Tichenor is shown on the right and Joss the left of our heading photo above.
Tichenor’s addition comes as a result of a CAS decision to uphold the suspension of the Russian National Paralympic Committee (NPC). As a result, reallocated shooting slots were directly awarded by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to three pistol shooters.
The 2016 Paralympic Games begin Wednesday, September 7 with the Opening Ceremony. Tichenor will compete in P1 (Air Pistol) on Friday, September 9 followed by P3 (Sport Pistol) on Sunday, September 11.
“It has been a real roller coaster ride,” Tichenor said. “I didn’t earn a quota and thought I might go as staff, but that just didn’t develop. Then seeing two of my teammates added earlier this week and not get the call, that was rough.”
“Today I wake up to learn my chance to join the US Paralympic Team did come through. The hard work of USA Shooting and the USAMU made this happen. How many people can say they got notified four days before departure and are ready to go? That usually takes a month. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and I promise I will do my best.”
Tichenor joined the Army in 1997. He was assigned to the USAMU’s International Team in January 2013 as a shooter/instructor. In 2014 and 2015, he was the Paralympic National Champion for 10m Air Pistol.
Hard Air Magazine wish all U.S. Paralympic Team contestants great success in the Rio games!
This story contains additional material from Brenda Rolin, Public Affairs Chief, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Fort Benning, GA.
