U.S. Army Soldier Wins Her First Two World Cup Medals in Qatar, Two Months After Becoming a New Mother

Sgt. Alicia Gough won the Bronze Medal in Women’s Trap at the International Shooting Sports Federation Shotgun World Cup in Doha, Qatar March 4-13.

Gough, a marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit out of Fort Benning, Georgia, traveled to Qatar as part of USA Shooting’s National Shotgun Team, a team she earned a spot on by placing second in the February Spring Section Match-just a month after giving birth to her first child.

Before the Burlington, Wisconsin native could even make it into the Medal Match in Qatar though, she first had to qualify in the top eight. Gough competed against 61 other competitors from across the world during the qualification relays that included a total of 125 targets. The U.S. Army Soldier ended up with 118 hits and then hit an additional six targets in a shoot-off to earn her seventh place qualification score.

After the top eight were selected, they were then broken down into two Ranking Matches. Gough earned second place in her Ranking Match with 19 hits, just behind Slovak’s Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova who finished with 20 hits.

Finally in the Medal Match, Gough was up against Australia’s Penny Smith, Spain’s Fatima Galvez and Rehak Stefecekova, and ultimately claimed the Bronze Medal.

Then the next day, Gough teamed up with her USA Shooting Teammate, fellow USAMU Soldier Staff Sgt. Will Hinton, to claim the Gold Medal in the Mixed Trap Team event.

Winning her first two World Cup Medals was an exciting fact by itself. However, winning two medals for the USA just two months after having her first child, just speaks to the level of her support, said Gough.

“It’s surreal to achieve so many firsts for me so soon after giving birth. I think it’s a testimony to how supportive the Army team can be for individuals to achieve their goals.”

Being part of a team has certainly helped me push myself to another level, explained Gough.

“I definitely could not have done this without the huge backing of the USAMU.”

Of course, earning the opportunity to represent the USA on the world stage didn’t happen overnight. This Soldier had to put in countless hours of training before the Selection Match, with some of those months even while she was pregnant.

“It was incredible to me to see the consistent work over the last few years come together at the right time. Even cooler to share it with my team and my incredible and supportive husband and son!”

To watch the Women's Trap Final, go to

https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/results/detail.ashx?cshipid=3108&resultkey=3b3b303b5452573b303b463b493b313b303b31