Ten Paralympic USA Shooting athletes are headed to Lima, Peru, for the 2023 World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Championship, which is September 17-29.
Team USA’s Paralympic roster is listed below.
Rifle
- Kevin Nguyen
- John Joss
- Taylor Farmer
- Madison Champion
- Stetson Bardfield
- Robert Beach
- Landon Ruggera
Pistol
- Yan Xiao Gong
- Mike Tagliapietra
- Marco DeLaRosa
Kevin Nguyen is a Westminster, California, native and will be competing in R3 and R6 events. Nguyen is a 2020 Paralympian and a 2019 Para Pan American Games gold medalist. Nguyen is also a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
John Joss, a Corsicana, Texas, native, is a Sergeant 1st Class in the Army World Class Athlete Program. In Lima he will be competing in R6. Joss is a two-time Paralympian (2016, 2020) and earned a silver medal at the 2018 WSPS World Championships.
Taylor Farmer, a Castalia, Ohio, native will be competing in R2 and R3 events. Farmer is a 2020 Paralympian and a 2019 Para Pan American Games gold medalist. She earned two bronze medals at the 2018 WSPS World Championships.
Madison Champion will be shooting in the R4 and R5 events. She is a Greenville, Texas, native and the 2023 USA Shooting National Champion in R5 Air Rifle. Madison became a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2022 and made the National Team soon after her arrival.
Stetson Bardfield is a 2020 Paralympian and will be shooting in the R5 event in Lima. Bardfield, a Colorado Springs, Colorado, native earned a gold medal at the 2019 Para Pan American Games.
Robert “Nick” Beach is a Dresden, Ohio, native and will be competing in the R3 and R6 events. He recently earned a bronze medal at the 2023 WSPS Changwon World Cup in the R3 SH1 Mixed Air Rifle Prone Team. He is a 2019 Para Pan American Games medalist and is looking to make his Paralympic debut in Paris 2024.
At age 19, Landon Ruggera is the youngest member of the 2019 Paralympic World Championship team. He will be competing in R3 and R6. The Gunnison, Colorado, native made is international debut earlier this year at the WSPS Changwon World Cup where he earned a bronze medal in R6 SH1 50m Prone Mixed Team.
Yan Xiao “Xiao” Gong, a Malibu, California, native and a 2020 Paralympian. Xiao will be shooting the P1, P3 and P4 events in Lima. In 2022 Gong took home three medals from the Arequipa, Peru Paralympic Grand Prix. In 2021 he also earned three medals at the WSPS Lima World Cup.
Mike Tagliapietra, a 2016 Paralympian, is competing in the R3 event in Lima. The Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, native earned gold and bronze medals at the 2019 Para Pan American Games.
Marco DeLaRosa, a Chicago, Illinois, native is shooting the P1 and P3 events. De La Rosa is a 2016 Paralympian, also earning gold and bronze medals at the 2022 Arequipa, Peru Grand Prix.
Multiple United States quota slots for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be up for grabs at this competition.
The team currently has one Paralympic quota earned by Jazmin Almlie-Ryan in Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2.
When an athlete earns a quota for the United States in a specific event, the U.S. then becomes eligible to have an athlete compete in said event at the Games. Athletes are only eligible to earn one event quota in a four-year cycle.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
