Central PA Native To Compete in Rio Olympics

HILLSGROVE, PA (Jennifer Wakeman/Newsradio 1070 WKOK) – A Sullivan County native will be competing in the 2016 Olympics. Sergeant First Class Josh Richmond qualified for the team after winning the double trap shotgun finals in Arkansas earlier this month.

Richmond says he learned to shoot as a child in Hillsgrove, Pennsylvania, “It’s very, very rural and a lot of our family activities involved shooting. What started out as a hobby, turned into my profession, ultimately. When I was about 16-years-old I started shooting with the U.S.A Shooting Team and I realized that shooting was in the Olympics. I decided that I want to take this as far as I can go and at the time, the Army was actually recruiting shooters.”

Richmond said being part of the United States Army Marksmanship Unit was the perfect place to hone his skills, “I felt like it was my personal duty to sign up and at least give back in any way I possibly could and shooting just happened to be my forte. Once I had some success and they recognized that, they recruited me from the civilian sector to join the Army and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I am very, very proud I did it because without the Army, there’s no way that I would be in the position I am today, a two-time Olympian, two-time World Champion and multi World Cup medalist.”

This will be Richmond’s second Olympics and he’s looking to bring home gold, “Just the overwhelming amount of attention that you get, the Olympic stage is the biggest competition you can possibly be at. It’s a great place to be and it’s fun. You’re there for a reason. We’re there to represent our country and the Army, at this point and I’m looking forward to raising our flag on the number one podium on August 10.”

The Army Marksmanship Unit was established in 1956 to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army. In 2011, Richmond was deployed to Afghanistan with the unit to serve as marksmanship instructor.