U.S. Army 1st Lt. Sarah Beard, with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, stands on the podium with silver medalist Eglys De La Cruz of Cuba and bronze medalist Ginny Thrasher, of the U.S., at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. (U.S. Army)
An American soldier won gold in the women’s 50-meter, three-position rifle shooting at the Pan American Games, making her a strong contender in the 2020 Olympics.
1st Lt. Sarah Beard, 28, an Army reservist, came from behind to grab first place Sunday in the competition in Lima, Peru. Teammate Ginny Thrasher won bronze, putting two American women on the podium.
“Excited for a first place today,” wrote Beard, a Danville, Ind. native, on her Facebook page. “Ups and downs, but taking in all the lessons that come along with it. Also congrats to Ginny Thrasher for bronze. Mission accomplished.”
Contestants shot a 5.56 mm rifle from prone, standing and kneeling positions at targets 50 meters away.
Beard started strong in the qualifying round, nailing a perfect 400 score in the prone, and moved on to the finals with the second-best score behind Puerto Rico’s Yarimar Mercado.
In the finals, Beard dropped to third place after the kneeling portion, then rebounded to second place after shooting from the prone position. In the standing position, she battled Cuba’s Eglys De La Cruz in a tight match.
Beard’s 454.9 score bested De La Cruz by 0.7 points.
Beard’s win last year in the Championship of the Americas had already landed her a spot, known as a quota place, in next year’s Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo.
That left open two quota places in the event. Thrasher seized one with her third-place finish, and silver medalist De La Cruz took the other.
“A bronze medal has never felt so much like gold to me,” Thrasher said in a statement. “Any day I can represent my country on the podium is a great day and being able to win a quota for Team USA to compete in Tokyo is an achievement I’m proud of.”
wyland.scott@stripes.com Twitter: @wylandstripes
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Sarah Beard, with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, stands on the podium with silver medalist Eglys De La Cruz of Cuba and bronze medalist Ginny Thrasher, of the U.S., at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. (U.S. Army)
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Sarah Beard, with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, fires in the standing position during the Women's 50m three-position rifle finals at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Beard won the gold medal while her U.S. teammate, Ginny Thrasher, took bronze. (U.S. Army)
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Sarah Beard, left, of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, fires in the kneeling position next to U.S. teammate Ginny Thrasher during the Women's 50m three-position rifle finals at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. (U.S. Army)
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Sarah Beard, center, stands with silver medalist Eglys De La Cruz of Cuba and bronze medalist Ginny Thrasher, her U.S. teammate, after the finals at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. (U.S. Army)
