Lones Wesley Wigger Jr. (August 25, 1937,

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...

– December 14, 2017,

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

) was an American sports shooter. Wigger was a member of the United States Olympic team on three occasions, winning two Olympic Gold Medals. He also served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Wigger is often regarded as having been the greatest competitive rifle shooter ever to have taken aim for the United States. He made every Olympic Shooting Team between 1968 and 1980, he held or co-held 27 world records – 14 team and 13 individual. He won 58 National Championships of almost every variety beginning in 1963. He was a member of 16 major U.S. international teams, starting with the 1963

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

and his record includes: 22 World Championships (two individual, 20 team); seven Pan-American titles; 18 victories in the Championship of the Americas meet; 16 victories in the Council Internationale Sport du Militaire meet; and in those four meets, plus the Olympics, he won 108 medals. Wigger was a member of the Olympic shooting team in 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980. The 1964 effort resulted in a gold medal. He won the gold for the three position small-bore rifle with a score of 1164, and also won a silver medal for small-bore rifle, prone position with a score of 597. He ran the 23rd Infantry Division Sniper School in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in 1971, and won the gold medal for free rifle, 3 position, with a score of 1155 in 1972. Wigger was on the

United States Army Marksmanship Unit The United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU or AMU) is a part of U.S. Army providing small arms marksmanship training for soldiers and enhancing Army recruiting. The unit was originally established in 1956 at the direction of president Dwight ...

, and competed in international matches representing the United States for 20 years. He was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in June 2008.

Family

Lones Wigger's daughter, Deena Wigger, was on the 1988 Olympic

air rifle An air gun or airgun is a gun that fires projectiles pneumatically with compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized ''without'' involving any chemical reactions, in contrast to a firearm, which pressurizes gases ''chem ...

squad. His son, Ron, served as the head rifle coach of the West Point rifle team for fourteen seasons. Under him, the team qualified for the championships in nine seasons, capturing the title in 2005, bronze in 2006 and silver for two years after that. His other son, Danny, is an accomplished Smallbore Rifle Prone Shooter.

Death

Lones Wigger died in the evening of December 14, 2017 at his home in

of complications from pancreatic cancer. Deena and Lones Wigger

References

External links

Photos of Lones Wigger
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wigger, Lones 1937 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Great Falls, Montana Military personnel from Montana American male sport shooters United States Distinguished Marksman ISSF rifle shooters Shooters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in shooting Olympic silver medalists for the United States in shooting Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in shooting Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Shooters at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games