Sarah Christine Blakeslee (born May 16, 1985, in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

) is an American sport shooter. She won a silver medal in small-bore rifle three positions at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, and was selected to compete for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, as a 19-year-old at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. A former resident athlete of the

U.S. Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Spri ...

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 ...

, Blakeslee trained rigorously for the national rifle shooting team under the tutelage of David Johnson. Blakeslee's sporting debut in the worldwide scene came as an eighteen-year-old teen at the

. There, she nailed down the silver in the rifle three positions at 668.2, losing the title to Cuba's Eglis Yaima Cruz by a slim 0.3-point deficit. With a noteworthy runner-up finish and a specific qualifying standard required in the selection, Blakeslee secured an Olympic berth for

on her first Games. At the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Blakeslee qualified for the U.S. shooting team in the 50 m rifle 3 positions, after finishing ahead of her teammate

Morgan Hicks Morgan Hicks (born March 22, 1982, in Tacoma, Washington) is an American sport shooter. She has competed for Team USA, as a 22-year-old, in small-bore rifle shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and has won a gold medal in the rifle three positi ...

for first place at the Olympic trials in

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees ...

four months earlier. A less experienced to the international scene, Blakeslee marked a brilliant 197 in prone, 185 in standing, and 189 in the kneeling series to put up a much steadfast aim in a three-way tie with Cruz and Finland's

Marjo Yli-Kiikka Marjo Yli-Kiikka (born 16 June 1978) is a Finnish sports shooter. She competed at the 2004, 2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed mo ...

for twentieth place. Blakeslee's qualifying score of 571 was just eight points short of the final cutoff and six away from her Hicks, who placed twelfth.

References

External links

* 1985 births Living people American female sport shooters Olympic shooters for the United States Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington Shooters at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in shooting 21st-century American women 20th-century American women {{US-sportshooting-bio-stub