COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - To make the 2016 U.S. Olympic Archery Team, archers must compete in USA Archery's three-part trial series. The first nomination shoot took place last September at Texas A&M University, where the field was cut from hundreds of archers, to the top 16 men and women. This weekend in Chula Vista, California starts the second nomination shoot for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Archery where the field will be cut to just 8 men and women left in the running for Rio.
Zach Garrett (Wellington, Missouri), who finished the first nomination shoot as the current men's leader, comes to the second nomination confident after a big international win at World Ranking Event, the AAE Arizona Cup this past weekend. 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona) took silver in Arizona, making his 11th podium in 11 major competitions this 2016 season.
The men's competition will be incredibly heated, as the level of talent on the field features many strong competitors, all very close in the running. Also in the top 5 so far: Ellison's London 2012 Silver Medalist teammates Jacob Wukie (Fremont, Ohio) and Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Florida).
21 year-old Mackenzie Brown (Flint, Texas) leads the women's division so far, just ahead of young teammates and friends Ariel Gibilaro (North Branford, Connecticut) and LaNola Pritchard (Lehi, Utah). 5-time Olympian and Olympic Bronze Medalist Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, California) is currently sitting 4th and will definitely be looking to climb the rankings next week as she chases her 6th Olympic team and the Olympic gold that has so far evaded her.
While the U.S. men have already qualified quota slots to send a full team of 3 to Rio, the women have only secured one slot so far. They will have one final chance to earn the additional 2 slots at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey this June. The pressure is on for the women to both earn that top position in the U.S. Trials, and to train harder as a team to make the Antalya podium and send a full team to Rio.
Current standings from the first nomination shoot, and live updates as the Trials continue, are available here. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And Wednesday, April 20, the Trials will be the Live Story on Snapchat - tune in for live updates and interviews with top performers! For any media questions or credential requests, please contact [email protected].
< Back to All News
