MUNICH — Braden Peiser keeps moving up, and in Munich he reached a stage he had not stood on before.
The Walther athlete qualified for the Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position final at the 2026 ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol and finished sixth overall in a field of 70 competitors. Peiser punched his ticket in fifth place with a qualification score of 593-32X, his first senior International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup final and a clear marker of how quickly he has climbed.
Peiser closed the final at 315.9, a full 10 points clear of seventh-place Filip Nepejchal of Czechia. A strong kneeling stage gave him 102.7 and an early foothold, but at 306 flat heading into standing and elimination he could not stay with the medalists. Gold went to Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway, who finished at 360.1.
A San Angelo, Texas, native who shoots for the University of Kentucky, Peiser arrived in Munich already carrying a strong season. He won the 2026 NCAA individual smallbore title and owns a junior international résumé that includes Junior World Championship gold along with multiple podium finishes in air rifle and smallbore rifle. His recent signing with the Walther World Team added his name to the company’s global roster of competitive rifle shooters.
“Braden’s performance in Munich was outstanding,” said George Norton, Director of Sales and Marketing, Competition Channel, Walther Arms. “To qualify for a senior World Cup final and finish sixth against that level of competition shows exactly the kind of disciplined, composed athlete he is. He’s still just getting started, and we are proud to have him representing Walther on the world stage.”
Among the premier stops on the international calendar, the Munich World Cup draws the top Olympic and World Championship rifle and pistol competitors each year. Peiser’s sixth-place finish fits the trajectory of a breakout season and points to the depth coming up through the U.S. rifle ranks.
Full results are available on the ISSF website.
