U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program
World Class Athlete Program
Active 1997 – present
Country  United States of America
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Army
Part of

Department of Defense
Department of the Army
Installation Management Command

Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command
Nickname(s) WCAP

The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) is a military unit whose primary mission is to support nationally and internationally ranked soldiers in participating on the U.S. Olympic team. The program is headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado.[1]

Objectives

According to the U.S. Army, WCAP provides active duty, National Guard and reserve soldiers the opportunity to train and compete at national and international sports competitions with the ultimate goal of selection to the U.S. Olympic team and U.S. Paralympic team, while maintaining a professional military career and promoting the U.S. Army.[1]

Selection

Any soldier-athlete (Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve) may apply for selection provided:

WCAP Olympians

2016

Spc. Paul Chelimo of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program finishes runner-up to Mo Farah of Great Britain to claim the silver medal in the men's 5,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 13 minutes, 3.90 seconds at the Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

The program sent four Kenyan-born soldier-runners competed at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.[4]

as well as

2012

The program sent seven athletes and four coaches to the 2012 Summer Games in London.[5]

2010

Maj. Michael Anti (left), a marksman with the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program assigned to the U.S. Army Marskmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Ga., flashes his silver medal alongside gold medalist Zhanbo Jia of China (center) and bronze medalist Christian Planer (right) of Austria after completion of the men's 50-meter rifle three-position event in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games at Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre.[6]

During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games three soldier-athletes and one coach represented WCAP and the US Army in the XXI Olympiad.[7]

-10k Sprint[8]
-4-man USA Sled II Pilot
-4-man USA Sled II Brakeman[9]

2008

During the 2008 Beijing Summer Games two WCAP athletes and one coach represented WCAP and the US Army in the XXIX Olympiad:[10]

-50m Rifle Competition
-Heavyweight
-Rapid Fire Pistol competition

Other notable WCAP alumni

Boyd Melson (right)
-2004 World Military Boxing Championships, gold medal (69-kg. weight class)[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program". thearmywcap.com.
  2. ↑ Army Regulation 215–1 Morale, Welfare, and Recreation. army.mil
  3. ↑ "WCAP Entry Standards". thearmywcap.com.
  4. ↑ 4 Kenyan-born U.S. Army runners represent their adopted country at Rio Games, Military Times
  5. ↑ US Army sends off 7 athletes, 4 coaches to London Olympics, AP in Washington Post, 16 July 2012
  6. ↑ "U.S. Army FMWRC Official Image Archive". Flickr.com. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  7. ↑ "US Army Olympians". Goarmy.com. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  8. ↑ "Teela sits out Olympic 20k Individual Biathlon". Army.mil. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  9. ↑ "Bobsledding Soldiers attention turns to Olympic four-man event". Army.mil. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  10. ↑ "Soldier-Olympians share tales with Army leaders". Army.mil. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  11. ↑ "Melson wins U.S. boxing quarterfinals". USA Today. 9 March 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

Sources

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