Magnifique! Montana Air Rifle Marksman to Compete in Olympics

A select group of three, one with a Montana connection, are ready to shoot for the stars (étoiles?) in Paris this summer.

After qualifying competitions that just concluded Sunday, the United States Olympic 10m Air Rifle Team was announced. And U.S. Army Sergeant Ivan Roe will be one of the team members with his sights on a gold medal.

Sergeant Roe, a Bozeman native, along with fellow Army Sergeant Sagen Maddalena and civilian athlete Mary Tucker will make up Team USA's 10m Air Rifle Team at this year's summer Olympics in Paris, July 26 - August 11. This past Sunday, January 7, they completed the trial events at the Civilan Marksmanship Program Competition Center in Anniston, Alabama. Sergeants Roe and Maddalena are fellow soldiers based at Fort Moore in Columbus, Georgia.

ABOUT THEIR EVENT

Shots are taken at a bullseye target at a distance of 10 meters (10.94 yards) using a 4.5mm-caliber air rifle with a maximum weight of 12.13 pounds. Sergeant Roe won Team USA selection over 77 other male marksmen from across the nation with a cumulative Olympic Trials score of 1898.9 points, which was 9.1 points over the second place finisher. This will be his first Olympics.

Sergeant Maddalena, a Groveland, California native, earned her Team USA placement by beating out 171 other female competitors. The Paris Games will be her second Olympics.  She also competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the 50m Smallbore Event, placing 6th.

Both Soldiers are marksmanship instructors/competitive shooters in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s International Rifle Team. Serving their country in the armed forces and representing it in Olympic competition: Pretty easy athletes to be proud of and cheer for.

And that Montana thing kind of helps, too!