2008 Olympic Games

Young Gun Finishes First Olympics With a Bang

Pvt. 1st Class Vincent Hancock didn’t know what to expect at his first-ever Olympic effort in skeet shooting, but he went on to earn his first gold medal over the weekend.

“I’ve been shooting ever since I was young and always dreamed of this moment, but for it to come true, it’s just, awesome!” said the 19-year-old from Eatonton, Ga. “And to do it as a Soldier makes it even better because my win represents what you can do when you’re part of something bigger than yourself.”

Hancock trains at Fort Benning, Ga., as a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), which sent six shooters to Beijing. Fellow AMU member and Olympian, Spc. Glenn Eller, set an Olympic record at the Summer Games, securing gold in the double trap competition.

“By competing and winning on the world stage, AMU Soldiers highlight the strength, discipline and commitment it takes to be successful and help to raise the standards of marksmanship proficiency throughout the Army,” said unit commander Lt. Col. Frank Muggeo.

Since the AMU was established in 1956, its shooters have won 22 Olympic medals and more than 40 world championships.

To learn more about the U.S. Army athletes and training, visit http://www.armyathletesolympians.com/ .

Source: U.S. Army

Shooting competitions at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will be held from August 9 to August 17, at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall and Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field.

15 sets of medals will be awarded in the following events:

• 50m Rifle Prone Men
• 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
• 10m Air Rifle Men
• 50m Pistol Men
• 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
• 10m Air Pistol Men
• Trap Men
• Double Trap Men
• Skeet Men
• 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
• 10m Air Rifle Women
• 25m Pistol Women
• 10m Air Pistol Women
• Trap Women
• Skeet Women

The events programme for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is quite similar to that of the Athens Games held in 2004. The 2008 Olympics will see the return of 28 sports, and will hold 302 events (165 men’s events, 127 women’s events, and 10 mixed events), one more event in total than in Athens.The following are the sports to be contested at the games (The number of events to be contested in each sport is indicated in parentheses):

• Aquatics (46)
• Archery (4)
• Athletics (47)
• Badminton (5)
• Baseball (1)
• Basketball (2)
• Boxing (11)
• Canoe / kayak (16)
• Cycling (18)
• Equestrian (6)
• Fencing (10)
• Football/Soccer (2)
• Gymnastics (18)
• Handball (2)
• Hockey (2)
• Judo (14)
• Modern pentathlon (2)
• Rowing (14)
• Sailing (11)
• Shooting (15)
• Softball (1)
• Table tennis (4)
• Taekwondo (8)
• Tennis (4)
• Triathlon (2)
• Volleyball (4)
• Weightlifting (15)
• Wrestling (18)