Quick Facts
Biography
Lones W. Wigger, Jr. (born August 25, 1937) is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. Wigger was member of the United States Olympic team on three occasions, and two time Olympic Gold Medalist.
Wigger is the greatest competitive rifle shooter ever produced in 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 since 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.
He was born in Great Falls, Montana.
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.
Lones 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.
He ran the U.S. Army Sniper School in Vietnam in 1971.
His daughter Deena Wigger was on the 1988 Olympic air rifle squad.
His son Ron Wigger 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 son Danny Wigger is a very accomplished Smallbore Rifle Prone Shooter won the anysight National Team Championships at Camp Perry in 2008 along with Brent Jarboe, Dave Cloft and Mike O'Connor firing as the SEMNO (Southeast Michigan and Northern Ohio) Rifle Team.