Keith Sanderson competes in the 25-meter rapid fire pistol final at the Shooting Range of the United States Army Marksmanship Unit at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol on April 2, 2014 in Fort Benning, Ga.
With the conclusion of the rapid fire pistol competition at the ISSF World Cup Final in Munich on Friday, Keith Sanderson became the second shooter to earn his place on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team.
Sanderson earned his spot on the team that will compete in Rio next summer by scoring the highest points in USA Shooting’s Olympic Points System, while earning at least 25 points in the system and winning at least one world cup medal. His highlights in the points system include a silver medal at the Munich world cup in May, which earned the U.S. its first of two quota spots in rapid fire pistol, and a win at the national championships.
While Sanderson did not qualify for the World Cup Final, he had to wait until the final event in the points system concluded to officially qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Rio will mark the third Olympics for the 40-year-old shooter, who finished fifth at the Beijing 2008 Games and 14th at the London 2012 Games.
Sanderson’s career highlights include nine world cup medals, highlighted by three earned in 2009 – one of each color. He was named USA Shooting Male Athlete of the Year in 2009 and 2014.
Teammate Michael McPhail qualified for Rio on Thursday in prone rifle after winning gold at the World Cup Final to fill the first of 20 quota spots for U.S. shooters.
Team USA’s second men’s rapid fire pistol shooter will be determined at the 2016 Olympic Team Selection Competition in April 2016.
Sanderson is the ninth member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, joining pentathlete Nathan Schrimsher, table tennis player Yue “Jennifer” Wu, open water swimmers Jordan Wilimovsky, Sean Ryan and Haley Anderson, triathletes Gwen Jorgensen and Sarah True, and shooter McPhail.
