Twice as Nice! Montana Marksman Qualifies For Two Olympic Events

Ready. Aim. Bring home the gold, Sarge!

As a follow-up to a story we shared awhile back, it is exciting to confirm that Montanans have a chance to cheer on one of their own in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, July 26 through August 11, in Paris. And he must be some kind of a phenomenal marksman!

U.S. Army Public Affairs Specialist Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato has announced that U.S. Army Sergeant Ivan Roe, a Manhattan, Montana native, qualified for the 50m Smallbore event at the 2024 Olympic Games during USA Shooting’s Smallbore Rifle/Pistol Olympic Trials-Part 3, held March 17-19. Sergeant Roe and his teammate, U.S. Army Sergeant Sagen Maddalena from Cleveland, Ohio, both made the team after completing three separate trials against the top marksmen from across the United States.

GOING FOR GOLD Xs TWO

Lt. Col. Lunato tells us that both soldiers, who are marksmanship instructors at Fort Moore in Columbus, Georgia, had already qualified for the Summer Olympics in another event, 10m Air Rifle. This means the pair will represent the U.S.A. in two separate shooting events at the Paris Games.

Sergeant Roe won his seat on Team USA with a score that gave him a solid 14-point lead to claim the one available Olympic berth over 35 other competitors. Of course, qualifying for the Olympics is no simple task.

And previously qualifying in Air Rifle did not change either soldiers' drive and determination during the Smallbore Trials. They say they went at it every bit as hard, and the results definitely confirm it.

ON BEING AN OLYMPIAN

Sergeant Roe was quoted as saying, "Representing the U.S. is a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid. So it’s a culmination of everything I’ve been doing the last two decades. It’s a huge, huge milestone.”

Congratulations to both soldiers on their awesome accomplishments, and good luck to all our U.S. Olympic athletes.