Specialist Kamal Bey of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program celebrates after winning a gold medal in the Greco-Roman wrestling 77 kg weight class at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Bey plans to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Nate Garcia/U.S. Army)
With the Olympic and Paralympic Games being held in France this summer, U.S. soldiers have their sights set on gold medals, especially in shooting events.
Seven U.S. Army soldiers and at least two veterans have qualified to compete in the Olympics, which will be held in Paris and other cities in France from July 26 to Aug. 11. Three more active-duty soldiers will compete in the Paralympics, which will be held from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8.
The Army Marksmanship Command, based in Fort Moore, Georgia, will send a significant number of troops to France. The unit was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 and has won 26 Olympic medals.
One of the unit’s Army veterans, Vincent Hancock, 35, will be competing in his fifth Olympic Games and aiming for his fourth gold medal after winning the men’s skeet events in Beijing, London and Tokyo.
Four current members will put their skills to the test at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre from July 27th to August 5th, alongside 340 competitors in 15 events.
Sergeant Sargen Maddalena, Sergeant Ivan Law, Staff Sergeant Will Hinton and Staff Sergeant Rachel Tozier have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. All are shooting instructors and competitive shooters with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Command stationed at Fort Moore, Georgia. (Michelle Renart/U.S. Army)
Sergeant Yvan Lo and Sergeant Sagen Maddalena will compete in two events in France.
The Montana native will be competing in his first Olympic Games after qualifying in the men’s 10-meter air rifle and 50-meter three-position shooting (small-caliber rifle) events.
The 28-year-old was a seven-time All-American at Murray State University and enlisted in the Army Marksmanship Corps in 2019.
“Representing the United States has been a dream I’ve had since I was a child,” Law said in an Army statement, “so this is the culmination of everything I’ve done for the past 20 years. This is a huge milestone.”
Maddalena, from Groveland, California, will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She placed fifth in the 50m small bore in Tokyo and is looking to make the podium. She will also be competing in the 10m air rifle.
The 30-year-old attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks and was an eight-time All-American in air rifle and small bore shooting before enlisting in the Army.
Along with Low, two other members of the Army Marksmanship Corps will be making their Olympic debut: Staff Sergeant Rachel Tozier, 32, and Staff Sergeant Will Hinton, 28, who qualified in trap shooting.
Tozier, a native of Pattonsburg, Missouri, participated in the Army Marksmanship Program in 2017 and won 11 medals in international competitions.
“My senior year of high school I wrote that I wanted to make the Olympic team, so I’m happy I was able to achieve that,” Tozier said in March.
A native of metro Atlanta, Hinton was selected to the U.S. Junior World Team in 2013. After serving in the Army, he switched from sporting clays to international-style trap in 2016.
Keith Sanderson, 49, a Marine and Army veteran, will be competing in his fourth Olympics in the men’s 25-meter rapid-fire pistol event.
U.S. Army Capt. Sammy Sullivan runs with the ball during the USA Rugby Sevens tournament at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., on March 2. Sullivan is one of seven active duty soldiers who have qualified to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held July 26-Aug. 11. (Evan Denworth/USA Rugby)
Meanwhile, captain Sammy Sullivan has been selected for the women’s rugby sevens team, which will be competing in an Olympic Games for the first time.
The 26-year-old West Point graduate will play as edge prop for the Eagles in the tournament, which will be held at the Stade de France in Paris from July 28-30.
The women’s rugby team is aiming to win its first medal since the sport was introduced at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Eagles finished fourth in the World Series league stage and defeated fellow pool nation and medal favorite France, 19-5, in the tournament’s semifinals in Hong Kong on April 7.
“If we really focus, we can beat high-caliber teams,” Sullivan told Stars and Stripes, naming defending champions New Zealand, 2016 champions Australia and France as medal favorites. “That win (against France) in particular gives us more confidence we can make the podium at the Olympics.”
Staff Sergeant Leonardo Corir runs for a spot in the Paris Olympics during the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 3, 2024. (Nathaniel Garcia/U.S. Army)
Long-distance runner Staff Sergeant Leonard Korir (37), missed qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics by just three seconds, but will be competing in the Olympics again.
The former Iona College athlete placed 14th in the 10K race in 2016.
He placed third in the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The race in Paris is Aug. 10.
Specialist Kamal Bey competes in the 77 kg Greco-Roman wrestling class. A native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Bey holds Russian and Belarusian passports and earned an Olympic berth following a vacancy among individual neutral athletes, or Olympic qualifiers, who were invited to compete in Paris and deemed eligible.
The 26-year-old Bey is scheduled to compete at the Champs de Mars Arena on August 6th and 7th.
Soldiers serving as coaches in the tournament are former Olympians in modern pentathlon, Master Sergeant Dennis Bowsher, and wrestler Sergeant Spencer Mango.
Army Staff Sergeant Kevin Nguyen, right, poses with teammate Staff Sergeant 1st Class John Joss during Part 3 of USA Shooting’s Paralympic Trials in Talladega, Alabama, in April 2024. Both soldiers have been selected for Team USA and are scheduled to compete in the Paris 2024 Paralympics this summer. (Kulani Lacanaria/U.S. Army)
At the Paralympics, Staff Sergeant First Class John Wayne Joss III, 41, and Staff Sergeant Second Class Kevin Nguyen, 31, will compete in the R6 50m rifle prone SH1 event.
Swimmer First Sergeant Elizabeth Marks, 33, is aiming to repeat the impressive record that saw her win three medals – gold, silver and bronze – at the Tokyo Olympics.
