Soldiers win gold, silver medals at Pan Am Games in Toronto

FORT BENNING, Ga., (July 29, 2015) -- Three Soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) won a gold medal, two silver medals and two Olympic quotas at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, July 10-26.

"The Army and the United States achieved exceptional results at the Pan American Games. These Soldiers and the rest of the U.S. Team are working hard," said Lt. Col. Bret Tecklenburg, USAMU commander.

"The results of this hard work showed at the Games. Next up is the World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan, where Soldiers from America's Army will continue to make us proud on their path to the 2016 Olympics."

Staff Sgt. Brad Balsley, from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, won a gold medal and an Olympic quota for the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol event July 16 in Toronto.

Prior to this event, he won the bronze medal in the rapid fire pistol championship during the 2015 USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle and Pistol, at Fort Benning, June 24 to July 1, securing a spot with Team USA for the Gabala World Cup next month.

Shooting sport athletes must win quotas for their country to allow their countries to compete, although athletes who win quotas are not automatically qualified for the Games, as each country decides how to use the quotas won by its athletes.

On July 17, a silver medal was awarded to 2012 Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Michael McPhail, who recently won two world cups back-to-back and is currently ranked No. 1 in the world for men's 50-meter prone rifle by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

McPhail, of Darlington, Wisconsin, won gold during the ISSF World Cup USA at Fort Benning May 11-19, and again at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany, May 26 to June 2.

McPhail will join his teammates at the Gabala World Cup.

All quota spots for men's 50-meter prone were won by McPhail during the ISSF World Cup USA and by USAS team member Matt Emmons' first-place at World Cup Changwon, Korea, earlier this year, according to USAS, the organization that prepares American athletes to win Olympic and Paralympic medals.

Another silver medal and an Olympic quota went to Staff Sgt. George Norton July 19 for the men's three position rifle.

Norton, an Albuquerque, New Mexico native, was a double threat going into the Pan Am Games. He competed in both the men's 50-meter prone rifle in Toronto, coming in ninth, and in the men's three-position event.

In men's double trap, Staff Sgt. Glenn Eller finished in fourth place on July 16.

He said he has a lot of work ahead of him before his next event-the Gabala World Cup.

"I gave it my all, but I came up short, so back to training," said Eller, of Katy, Texas.