 Avianna Chao
started shooting pistol in the fall of 2001. At the start it was to support her fiancée Patrick Haynes, but because of Patrick and all the friendly and helpful people at the SRC, she quickly discovered that she had a knack for the shooting sports. Of course, all the encouraging medals she won at the various SRC club matches fueled her desire to improve.
In her first Pistol Nationals in 2002, Avianna won the Sport Pistol (25 m) event and secured a spot on the 2003 National Pistol team. Since the inaugural National Champion title, she has won the Sport Pistol event twice more, in 2003, and 2004. Avianna has competed at numerous international events such as World Cups in the USA, Athens, Munich, Milan, as well as the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Australia. Her most exciting finish was perhaps at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, where she came in 4th in Sport Pistol, nearly securing a quota spot for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Her goal now is the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She has already shot MQS scores in both Air Pistol and Sport Pistol, and is well on her way to realizing her Olympic dream.
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