Gold Medal winner speaks at First Shot Ceremony

The Civilian Marksmanship Program's First Shot Ceremony on Monday served as the traditional start to the century-old National Matches.

The 117th National Matches will run through Aug. 10 at the Camp Perry National Guard Training Facility, featuring smallbore rifle, air gun, pistol, highpower rifle, vintage rifle and long range rifle events for adults and juniors.

National Matches kick off at Camp Perry

The sweltering sun blazed down at Camp Perry, where the matches have been held since 1907, but a cooling breeze welcomed competitors and guests from around the country.

As visitors arrived, sounds of the 122nd Ohio Army National Guard Band resonated throughout the stands and vintage vehicles from Timeless Ts Model T Club lined the entry to the plaza. Guests were able to walk up to each vehicle for a closer look and were able to take rides around base.

When the festivities began, a TBM Avenger from Port Clinton’s Liberty Aviation Museum made five passes over the crowd, with a resounding explosion from a controlled pyrotechnic on the range simulating a dropped bomb and marking the final pass.

Emcee Christie Sewell, CMP’s chief programs officer, introduced guests including Maj. Gen. John C. Harris, adjutant general of the Ohio National Guard; Susan Green, civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army; Ohio Reps. Bob Latta and D.J. Swearingen and several senior leaders from the Ohio National Guard. CMP Board members were also in attendance as well as Director of Civilian Marksmanship Emeritus and Olympic gold medalist Gary Anderson and Port Clinton Mayor Mike Snider.

First Shot speaker was U.S. Air Force Academy rifle coach, CMP Board member and gold-medalist Launi Meili. She was the first American woman to win Olympic gold in smallbore rifle (Barcelona, 1992) and remains the only woman to compete in both air rifle and smallbore at two separate Games.

During the First Shot, she addressed the crowd by recounting her career.

Meili shares gold medal

“You may see my picture with a gold medal and think, ‘Wow, she probably has natural talent.’ I have to say, my very first match, I came in last place,” she said. “I also have to say, when I shot at the collegiate level, the highest I ever placed was sixth. So, not a lot of natural talent — what it was was a lot of hard work.”

She explained how she traveled the world early in her career, including to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where she worked full-time to achieve her goal – an Olympic medal. In 1988, she performed well at World Cup events and was predicted to win a medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, setting an Olympic record in the preliminaries.

She entered the final in Seoul in first place. Unfortunately, her nerves got the best of her as her legs began to shake, and she fell from first to sixth place.

“Again, not a lot of natural talent,” she joked. “I had to work another four years.”

Her hard work paid off as she made the 1992 team and set yet another Olympic record in smallbore before again heading into the final in first place.

“This time, I had a better plan,” she said. “It carried me through, and I ended up with a gold medal.”

As she concluded her story Meili lifted an object from the podium — the gold medal she had won in Barcelona.

“Shooting’s been good for me. It’s been a great journey, and it’s important to share. It’s important to see that starting out with very little talent can get you to where you want to be, with a lot of hard work,” she said.

Speaker receives gold-plated 1907 rifle

Meili then made the walk to the 600-yard line of Rodriguez Range. Prepared there was the gold-plated 1907 Standard .22 rifle that was presented to her at the 1993 SHOT Show by Dieter Anschütz, owner and president of Anschütz Rifles. It was custom-built for Meili after she won the gold and had been on display at the USA Shooting Hall of Fame.

The First Shot Ceremony marked the rifle’s first firing on an outdoor range.

The gold-plated 1907 Standard will be on display at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center for the next year, along with the outfit Meili wore during the 1992 Olympic Games and several competition medals from around the world.

After she posed for photos, Sewell again took to the podium to give her closing remarks. The 122nd Army Band played once more — each military branch’s anthem. Once the last note was played, a booming cannon fire shook the range to mark the end of the ceremony.

Afterward, Meili stayed for photos with guests and allowed them to hold her gold medal.