Former UW-Oshkosh Student To Compete At Olympics
USA Shooting Website | 2016 Summer Olympic Games Website
OSHKOSH, Wis.--Former UW-Oshkosh student Michael McPhail will once again represent the United States shooting team at the Olympic Summer Games. McPhail, a former UW-Oshkosh business major from Darlington, will be among the favorites for a medal when he competes in the 50-meter prone rifle competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, beginning at 7 a.m. (CST) on Aug. 12. McPhail, 34, is currently ranked fifth in the world in the event.
In 2015, McPhail was the top-ranked prone rifle shooter in the world and was named USA Shooting Rifle Athlete of the Year. He won two World Cups last year and went on to capture the World Cup Finals title in Munich, Germany. With the World Cup Finals victory, McPhail became the eighth athlete to earn a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team and the first member of the Shooting Team.
In McPhail’s Olympic event, shooters lie down and focus in on a target 50 meters away. Each bulls-eye, which is smaller than a dime, is worth 10 points. Competitors attempt 60 shots in each of 10 rounds. The top eight scorers advance to the finals, which commence at 9 a.m. (CST) on Aug. 12. McPhail is vying to become the first American to medal in the event since Matthew Emmons claimed silver in 2008 (Beijing, China) and gold in 2004 (Athens, Greece).
During his Olympic debut in 2012 (London, England), McPhail finished ninth in the qualifying round by scoring 595 points. Five shooters qualified for the finals with 595 points, but McPhail and three others with that score failed to advance to the finals following a shootout. McPhail missed a spot in the finals by three-tenths of a point.
Sergei Martynov from Belarus is the reigning Olympic 50-meter prone rifle gold medalist after scoring a record 705.5 total points, including the second 600-point round in Olympic qualifying-round history.
McPhail’s previous competitive shooting accomplishments include a bronze medal in the 300-meter prone rifle event at the 2014 World Championship. He has also earned four medals at the Pan American Games and eight at the World Cup. In the 50-meter prone rifle discipline at the Pan American Games, he claimed the gold medal in 2011 and silver medals in 2007 and 2015.
McPhail was a four-year member of UW-Oshkosh’s rifle team, an intramural squad that was attached to the school’s Army ROTC program. The team was affiliated with the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference and used a rifle range located in UW-Oshkosh’s Kolf Sports Center. The squad competed against several NCAA Division I schools, including Michigan State University, Purdue University, The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan.
Following two years as a member of UW-Oshkosh’s Army ROTC program, McPhail joined the U.S. Army in 2005.
McPhail is currently stationed in Fort Benning, Ga., as a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. He and his wife, Kari, are the parents of daughter, Addison, and son, Mason.
McPhail is one of five former UW-Oshkosh students to compete in the Olympics, including Allison (Darragh) Pottinger who represented the United States in curling at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games. Casey Edwards represented the United States in gymnastics and Melissa Mueller in track & field at the 1980 and 2000 Summer Games, respectively. UW-Oshkosh’s Rodney Figueroa competed for Puerto Rico in wrestling at the 1992 Summer Games.
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