Tim Sherry, of Evergreen, Colorado, captured two individual medals at the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championship, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, August 14-September 1.
His performance brings the total U.S. medal count to 10.
Sherry, a three-time ISSF World Cup medalist, earned bronze medals in Men’s 300m Rifle Prone and Open 300m Standard Rifle, doubling his medal count from the 2022 ISSF World Championship.
“This competition was an excellent validation of the work I’ve put in this year. It’s really rewarding to see how the results take care of themselves when I can focus fully on performing my best on each shot,” Sherry said. He also earned bronze in Open 300m Standard Rifle last year.
Sherry took bronze in the prone event after shooting a score of 599-36X (out of 600 possible), which was only four Xs less than silver medalist Aleksi Leppa of Finland. Leppa also shot 599, but placed second overall because his X-count was 40.
In the standard rifle event, Sherry fired 20 shots each in the kneeling, prone and standing positions, similar to the 50m Rifle 3-Position event. Sherry’s score of 586-25X earned him a post on the international podium.
“I enjoy representing Team USA at major international competitions like World Championships,” Sherry, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, said. “I’ve always dreamed of seeing our flag raised during a medal ceremony that I’m a part of, so having that experience twice at this World Championships was really fulfilling.”
Sherry’s World Championship medals brought USA’s grand total to 10. Team USA athletes medaled in the following events.
- Gold in Men’s Trap Team: Will Hinton, Derrick Mein and Derek Haldeman
- Gold in Men’s Skeet Team: Vincent Hancock, Christian Elliott and Dustan Taylor
- Gold in Mixed Skeet Team and a new world record: Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith
- Gold in Women’s Skeet Team and a new world record: Dania Vizzi, Austen Smith and Samantha Simonton
- Gold and a new world record in Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position: Sagen Maddalena, Sarah Beard and Mary Tucker
- Silver in Women’s Skeet: Dania Vizzi
- Silver in Mixed Trap Team: Rachel Tozier and Derrick Mein
- Bronze in Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position: Sagen Maddalena
- Bronze in both 300m Standard Rifle Open and Men’s 300m Prone Rifle: Tim Sherry
Although the 300m Rifle events are no longer Olympic disciplines, they are fired at the ISSF World Championships as well as at the USA Shooting 300m Nationals each year. Sherry also shoots Olympic disciplines in air and smallbore rifle.
A University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni, Sherry is currently preparing for the USA Shooting Rifle Olympic Trials Part 1, slated for September 28 to October 3 in Fort Moore, Georgia. After trials, Sherry will head to the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, from October 20 to November 5. He will be competing with teammates Gavin Barnick and Rylan Kissell in Men’s 10m Air Rifle, along with Lucas Kozeniesky in Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position.
At the previous Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, 2019, Sherry earned a bronze medal in Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position. The Pan American Games is an opportunity for athletes to earn the United States quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. To date, USA Shooting athletes have earned 15 quotas in the following:
Pistol
- Women’s 10m Air Pistol: earned by Suman Sanghera at the CAT Games
- Women’s 25m Pistol: earned by Katelyn Abeln at the CAT Games
Rifle
- Men’s 10 Air Rifle: earned by Brandon Muske at the CAT Games
- Women’s 10m Air Rifle: earned by Mary Tucker at the CAT Games
- Women’s 10m Air Rifle: earned by Alison Weisz at the World Championship
- Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position: earned by Katie Zaun at the CAT Games
- Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position: earned by Sagen Maddalena at the World Championship
- Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position: earned by Ivan Roe at the CAT Games
Shotgun
- Men’s Trap: earned by William Hinton at the CAT Games
- Men’s Trap: earned by Derrick Mein at the World Championship
- Men’s Skeet: earned by Dustan Taylor at the CAT Games
- Men’s Skeet: earned by Vincent Hancock at the World Championship
- Women’s Trap: earned by Aeriel Skinner at the 2022 CAT Games
- Women’s Skeet: earned by Dania Vizzi at the CAT Games
- Women’s Skeet: earned by Samantha Simonton at the World Championship
In addition, USA Shooting also has a Paralympic quota earned by Jazmin Almlie-Ryan in Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2.
See the full results of the 2023 ISSF World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, at the ISSF website.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
