The Wimbledon Cup is a
marksmanship
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...
trophy that was established in the 1870s.
It is awarded annually during the
National Rifle & Pistol Matches which are held at
Camp Perry,
Ohio and has become the most prestigious prize in US long-range rifle shooting.
Each year the high-power phase of these matches traditionally takes place during the first two weeks of August. The Wimbledon Cup is awarded for the winner of a 1000-yard shooting match — in which the rules permit use of "any sight", including telescopes.
Concurrent with the Wimbledon,
service rifle shooters compete for the Farr Trophy, and
Palma
Palma or La Palma means palm in a number of languages and may also refer to:
Geography Africa
*Palma, Mozambique, city
** Palma District
*La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, Spain
**La Palma (DO), a ''Denominación de Origen'' for wines from the ...
rifle shooters vie for the "Doc" Aiken Trophy.
History
The Wimbledon Cup is a silver tankard wrought by British silversmiths of the Victorian period.
The British
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
inaugurated the prize in 1866. ''
The Illustrated London News'' reported on July 26, 1866, that the Wimbledon Cup was a new prize for the Wimbledon Rifle Meeting of that year.
In 1875, the trophy was presented to the American rifle team attending the British matches at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
by
Princess Louise Princess Louise may refer to:
;People:
* Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, 1848–1939, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
* Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, 1867–1931, the ...
, on behalf of the riflemen of Great Britain. Members of the American team competed among themselves for the trophy at Wimbledon; this match was won by Major Henry Fulton. The Wimbledon Cup was taken to the United States and placed in annual competition at
Creedmoor Rifle Range as the trophy for a long range match open to any rifle. Michelle Gallagher has won the most cups with five. Her family have won it seven times. Her mother Nancy H. Tompkins-Gallagher won once and her step-father Middleton W. Tompkins won once.
The 1965 trophy was awarded to
CPL Carlos N. Hathcock, USMC.
References
*
Inline citations
{{reflist
Target shooting trophies and awards
1866 establishments in the United Kingdom
1875 establishments in Ohio