A handful of active-duty soldiers were among the first athletes to earn spots on Team USA for the 2016 Summer games in Rio de Janeiro, but the new year will bring more chances for more service members to make the squad.
Pentathelete Spc. Nathan Schrimsher, part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, was the first athlete to qualify for the U.S. team, earning his spot with a third-place finish in the Pan American Games in July. He was joined by shooters from both the WCAP and the Fort Benning, Georgia-based Army Marksmanship Unit, including Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Eller, a double-trap shooter who will be competing in his fifth Olympics.
Many sports still have qualifying events to come, including pistol shooting and, in April, wrestling. WCAP will send multiple grapplers to Iowa with an eye on Rio, with 2012 Olympians Spc. Ellis Coleman, Sgt. Justin Lester and Sgt. Spenser Mango among the favorites in the Greco-Roman brackets.
