Ángel Ricardo Velarte Rosando (born June 8, 1971, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

) is an Argentine sport shooter. He won a gold medal in air rifle shooting at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, and was selected to compete for Argentina in two editions of the Olympic Games (1996 and 2004). Having started shooting at the age of fifteen, Velarte served most of his sporting career as a full-time member of the La Rioja Shooting Federation () in his native

under head coaches Julio Escalante and Ariel Martínez. Velarte's Olympic debut came at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where he wound up a thirty-eighth spot in the

10 m air rifle 10 meter air rifle is an International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) shooting event, shot at a bullseye target over a distance of using a calibre air rifle with a maximum weight of . It is one of the ISSF sports governed in shooting spor ...

, and then edged out his compatriot Ricardo Rusticucci by a three-point advantage to take the forty-fourth position in the 50 m rifle 3 positions, accumulating a tally of 577 and 1,142 points, respectively. Despite missing out his 2000 Olympic bid, Velarte reached the peak of his shooting career by claiming the first gold medal for Argentina in the men's air rifle at the

with a total score of 692.5 points. Because of his remarkable victory, Velarte had guaranteed a place on the Argentine team and attained a mandatory minimum score to compete for the Olympics, signifying his return from an eight-year absence. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Velarte qualified for his second Argentine squad in rifle shooting. In the

, Velarte shot 586 out of 600 to finish in a two-way tie with Serbia and Montenegro's Stevan Pletikosić for thirty-ninth place. Four days later, in the 50 m rifle prone, Velarte scored 584 points to grab the penultimate position in a field of forty-six shooters, betraying a three-point gap from Cuba's Reinier Estpinan in the prelims. In his third and last event, 50 m rifle 3 positions, Velarte fired 394 in the prone position, 368 in the standing, and 380 in the kneeling to accumulate an overall record of 1,137 points, leaving him in thirty-sixth place along with Mexico's Roberto José Elias.

References

External links

ISSF Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velarte, Angel 1971 births Living people Argentine male sport shooters Olympic shooters for Argentina Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2003 Pan American Games Shooters at the 2007 Pan American Games Shooters at the 2011 Pan American Games Shooters at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Sport shooters from Buenos Aires Pan American Games gold medalists in shooting Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Argentine sportsmen