Help Landon Reach His Paralympic Goal

My name is Landon Ruggera and I am from Gunnison, Colorado. I am an 18-year-old air rifle athlete hoping to soon add a smallbore rifle for competition with the help of this fundraiser. I was born with Spina Bifida and my dad, who shot competitively for years, started teaching me to shoot when I was five. Shooting sports is something I have always been passionate about and was a sport I could enjoy and fully participate in even with my disability.

I shot competitively in 4H and was introduced to the world of Olympic style shooting at the State 4H competition. I began training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and am a paralympic shooter classified as SH1 (physically disabled from the waist down). I am currently shooting two air rifle disciplines: prone position and standing. With Paralympic shooting, I use my wheelchair and a table my dad made. The table attaches to my wheelchair as a modification for the prone position which would normally be laying on your stomach shooting. The standing position is also from my wheelchair without the table system.

I train as much as possible at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, which so far has been two to three trips per month. At the beginning of my training, I was shooting around a 560 in score and am now shooting a 626. Paralympic level scores are typically in the 620’s and 630’s. It is difficult and costly to make as many trips to Colorado Springs for training as I realistically need. I need to purchase equipment, including a digital target, a dry firing training device and an air tank to fill the air rifle. Additional equipment would allow me to train every day from my home in Gunnison when I am not at the training center.

I have been refining my skills with the Paralympic Coach and compete in PTO (Preliminary Try Out) Matches every third Saturday of the month for classification scoring. I recently competed in the WAG (Winter Air Gun) National Match alongside the Paralympic Team. Next year, in 2023 I will compete in many national matches and the Junior Olympics as I work toward my goal of being part of the Paralympic Team.

My Paralympic Coach has suggested that I purchase a .22 rifle to compete in smallbore matches next year in addition to my air rifle. The positions I plan to shoot for smallbore are prone and 3 position; standing, prone and kneeling. A .22 Olympic level rifle costs anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000; the rifle I am looking at is approximately $9,000. The .22 rifle is a Walther, the same brand as the air rifle I purchased. Buying the same brand allows me to switch between rifles for competitions easily.

My family has spent over $11,000 to date and is at the point where help is needed for me to reach my dream of competing in both air rifle and .22 rifle, being on the Paralympic Team and competing at the Paralympics. Please help me raise the money to purchase additional equipment and help with travel expenses to continue my journey. Thank you so much for your generosity; it is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Landon Ruggera and Family