Lones Wigger

Lones Wesley Wigger Jr. (August 25, 1937, Great Falls, Montana – December 14, 2017, Colorado Springs, Colorado) was an American sports shooter. Wigger was a member of the United States Olympic team on three occasions, winning two Olympic Gold Medals.[1][2] He also served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel.

Lones Wigger Jr.
Personal information
Full nameLones Wesley Wigger Jr.
NationalityUSA
Born(1937-08-25)August 25, 1937
Great Falls, Montana, U.S.
DiedDecember 14, 2017(2017-12-14) (aged 80)
Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Sport
SportSports shooting Competitive Rifle Shooting
Medal record
Men's shooting
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
1964 Tokyo 50 m rifle three positions
1972 Munich 300 m free rifle
1964 Tokyo50 m rifle prone position

Wigger is often regarded as having been the greatest competitive rifle shooter ever to have taken aim for the United States. He made every Olympic Shooting Team between 1968 and 1980, he held or co-held 27 world records – 14 team and 13 individual. He won 58 National Championships of almost every variety beginning in 1963. He was a member of 16 major U.S. international teams, starting with the 1963 Pan-American Games and his record includes: 22 World Championships (two individual, 20 team); seven Pan-American titles; 18 victories in the Championship of the Americas meet; 16 victories in the Council Internationale Sport du Militaire meet; and in those four meets, plus the Olympics, he won 108 medals.

Wigger was a member of the Olympic shooting team in 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980. The 1964 effort resulted in a gold medal. He won the gold for the three position small-bore rifle with a score of 1164, and also won a silver medal for small-bore rifle, prone position with a score of 597. In 1972, Wigger won the gold medal for free rifle, 3 position, with a score of 1155.[3]

Wigger was on the United States Army Marksmanship Unit, and competed in international matches representing the United States for 20 years. He was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in June 2008.[4]

He ran the 23rd Infantry Division Sniper School in Vietnam in 1971.[5]

Family

Lones Wigger's daughter, Deena Wigger, was on the 1988 Olympic air rifle squad. His son, Ron, served as the head rifle coach of the West Point rifle team for fourteen seasons. Under him, the team qualified for the championships in nine seasons, capturing the title in 2005, bronze in 2006 and silver for two years after that. His other son, Danny, is an accomplished Smallbore Rifle Prone Shooter.

Death

Lones Wigger died in the evening of December 14, 2017 at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado of complications from pancreatic cancer.[6]

References
  1. Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Lones Wigger Jr". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  2. "Lones Wigger profile". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  3. "Lones Wigger Sr. obituary". Archived from the original on June 16, 2011.
  4. "Chicago 2016". Secure.flickr.com. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  5. American Rifleman magazine, April 1978, "Hits Count" by LTC Lones Wigger, Jr.
  6. "Lones Wigger: Legend Lost". USA Shooting. USA Shooting, a 501c3 non-profit corporation.
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