Air Shooting Kicks Off 35th Desert Challenge Games
Air rifle and pistol shots rang out alongside a perfectly-curated stream of classic rock tunes as the 35th Annual 2026 Desert Challenge Games began in earnest at the Doubletree by Hilton in Mesa, Arizona on Thursday. Contests for both 10-meter air pistol and air rifle, with a total of 35 athletes participating, were held.
For both the single heat of the air pistol completion and the two heats of air rifle, each shooter had seventy-five minutes to fire sixty pellets at the targets. All were given a fifteen-minute practice session immediately before the contests began.
“I’ve been shooting since I was a kid, my family always shot, and so it’s been a hobby that’s just been around,” says Richard Marshall, 43, who shot in both competitions. “I think after COVID, I was looking for something to do, a new hobby that was outdoors. We have a couple of indoor archery ranges, so I was already doing indoor archery.”
For Emily Simpson, 36, the path to competitive shooting looked nothing like Marshall’s. She arrived at the sport as a complete outsider, with no prior experience and no family connection to firearms — and ended up falling in love with it.
“I was not raised in gun culture and didn’t know how to shoot anything before walking into this, so I now have a deeper appreciation for it. I really love it,” says Emily Simpson. “It’s one of those sports that you can do at a recreational level or even compete at the Paralympic Games, so it’s got such a wide variety of options for people.”
Neither Marshall or Simpson said they had much experience with air pistols in the past, both having come from the air rifle discipline initially.
“I tried the rifle, and I got to be really good at it, and ended up qualifying for my first nationals competition about six months after I picked one up for the first time, and I guess the rest is history. This my third Desert Challenge games here, and my first shooting pistol,” Simpson told us. “I like pistol, because it’s a little bit more physically and mentally challenging. You’ve gotta hold your arm out straight,”
“But I did start as a rifle athlete. So it’s a mental switch,” she added.
“It was rough,” Marshall said after the air pistol competition ended. “I don’t have a pistol and I didn’t have a chance to make it to any of the practices. So it was that 15-minute warmup period, and then just go, Your one shot is just to do it it and compete in one swift thing. There were some really good shooters.”
Among those were Simpson, who took the longest time to expel her rounds at the air pistol competition, and who ended up with the event’s first Gold Medal.
“I felt pretty good. I’ve been practicing for the last two days. Pistol is very new to me, so we’re just trying to get our bearings. So I just tried to do the best I could,” Simpson said. The 2026 Games are of course just beginning, but this is surely a contender for understatement of the series so far.
Of the overall competition this year, Marshall noted some changes in classifications.
“It’s very interesting to see how they classify different disabled groups,” he said. “I’m classified a senior now, so I’m lumped in with all the seniors. I just think it’s funny, because I’m 43. Maybe I’m just a grumpy old man.”
And of air shooting in general, Simpson remains a major enthusiast.
“Come on down and try it. You’ll get sucked in,” she said. “It’s magic when you hit the black target.”
Arizona Desert Sports’ 35th Annual 2026 Desert Challenge Games, held in partnership with The Hartford, continues on Friday with the first Track & Field competition at Arizona State University’s Joe Selleh Track. The games this year feature 186 athletes from 6 countries.