TCU Junior Sarah Scherer Shooting for Olympic Gold

TCU Junior, Sarah Scherer, will carry America’s hopes for gold in the 10-meter air rifle competition at this summer in London Olympics.

The 2012 London Olympic Games commence on Saturday and shooting will present the first medal ceremony of the Games after the women’s 10m air rifle.

Americans Jamie (Beyerle) Gray and Sarah Scherer will be representing Team USA in the air rifle event, as they attempt to capture the 2012 London Games’ first medals.

The 21-year-old Scherer will be making her Olympic debut Saturday and already knows what it is like to win gold on the international stage. In her World Cup debut in 2011, Scherer proved she could compete with the best in the world winning gold in the 10m air rifle.

Scherer also won several NCAA championships in rifle events with Texas Christian University.

Two-time Olympian Gray narrowly missed earning a medal in Beijing, finishing fourth just 1.1 points shy of medal contention.
Gray and Scherer will be competing against favorites Katerina Emmons and Yi Siling.

Emmons, of the Czech Republic, is the wife of American shooter Matt Emmons. She won the gold medal in Beijing with a perfect score in the qualifying round and setting an Olympic record in the finals with a score of 503.5.

However, China’s Siling is the current top-ranked shooter in the world in this event. The 23-year-old won the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship in Munich where she was the first athlete to qualify for London, winning an Olympic Quota. Siling has reached the finals in 12 of her last 15 ISSF competitions, winning a medal nine of those times.

USA Shooting, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, was chartered by the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for the sport of shooting in April 1995.  The organization implements and manages development programs and sanctions events at the local, state, regional, and national levels; developing shooting athletes from grassroots to Olympic medals.

Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, USA Shooting has a full-time staff dedicated to furthering the sport and supporting athletes and members of the organization.  The organization has a USA Shooting News magazine publication, as well as public and member specific web sites.

Partially funded by the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Shooting relies on donations from supporters of the Olympic Movement, membership dues, event fees and corporate partners.  In 2008 the USA Shooting Team Foundation, a separate 501c3 non-profit corporation, was established to act as the fundraising arm of USA Shooting.  Click here to learn more about how you can support the USA Shooting Team.

Update on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 9:36AM by Bonzer Wolf

Team USA did not medal in the first Olympic event of 2012.  

The first athlete to qualify for the London Olympics also won its first gold medal on Saturday.

Yi Siling of China, who earned a shooting quota spot when she won the world women’s 10-meter air rifle championship in Munich two years ago, capped her domination of the discipline since then with the Olympic title on her debut.

Unheralded Polish soldier Sylwia Bogacka topped qualifying and had gold in her grasp until the third-to-last shot. She recovered to claim silver for her first major medal.

Yu Dan of China earned the bronze, as China became the first team since 1988 to enjoy two medalists in this event.

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