USA Shooting Athletes Claim Five Team World Champion Titles
Posted On: Sep 01, 2023
From our friends at USA Shooting, be sure to check out the 2024 10/22 that supports the team!
By Brittany Nelson, USAS Public Relations & Communications Manager
BAKU, AZE- (Aug 30, 2023) – USA Shooting athletes have racked up a total of five team world champion titles, bringing America’s total medal count to 10 at the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The five team gold medals have been earned by the Men’s Trap Team, Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team, Mixed Skeet Team, Men’s Skeet Team, and the Women’s Skeet Team.
Will Hinton, Derrick Mein, and Derek Haldeman became the Men’s Trap Team World Champions Aug. 24 after their combined qualification scores bested the other 33 teams. The trio’s final accumulated score was 368/375, placing them above the Italian team who shot 367/375.
Hinton and Mein also qualified and competed in the Men’s Trap individual final. Hinton made his World Championship finals debut and finished in fourth place. Mein was close behind Hinton and finished in fifth overall.
Olympic quotas were also on the line for many countries during the finals, but the U.S. Men’s Trap athletes have already fulfilled their allotted quota spots.
Mein earned the first Men’s Trap quota spot at the 2022 ISSF World Championship when he claimed the gold.
Hinton earned the final quota at the 2022 Championship of the Americas Games when he was crowned overall champion.
The Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team World Champion title was earned by Sagen Maddalena, Mary Tucker, and Sarah Beard. Their three qualification scores not only earned them gold, but also set a new team world record of 1774 and 102x. Their individual scores are as follows; Maddalena, 594 and 42x; Tucker, 592 and 32x; Beard, 588 and 28x.
Maddalena also earned bronze in Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, placing her on the podium after finishing 4th in the event last year. Her fourth place finish in 2022 earned the U.S. a quota slot for Paris in the event.
Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith topped the podium in Mixed Skeet Team. Their qualification score of 149/150 set a new world record. The American duo outshot the Ukrainian team in the gold medal match.
Hancock, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, teamed up Dustan Taylor and Christian Elliott to win the World Champion title in Men’s Skeet Team. The men’s combined score of 369/375 placed them above the Greece team, who earned silver.
Smith also upped her gold medal count after helping Dania Vizzi, and Samantha Simonton earn the World Champion title in Women’s Skeet Team. The trio set a new world record with their score of 365/375, besting the Italian team who finished second.
All three women went on to make the final in the individual Women’s Skeet event. Vizzi earned silver, edging out Emmanouela Katzouraki, of Greece, who finished third. Vizzi and Danka Bartekova, of Slovakia, were the final two women standing and battled for the World Championship title in a shoot off. After 11 targets, Bartekova claimed the gold medal, and Vizzi the silver.
USA Shooting has a total of 10 2023 World Championship medals in the following:
- Gold in Men’s Trap Team: Will Hinton, Derrick Mein, and Derek Haldeman
- Gold in Men’s Skeet Team: Vincent Hancock, Christian Elliott, and Dustan Taylor
- Gold in Mixed Skeet Team and a new world record: Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith:
- Gold in Women’s Skeet Team and a new world record: Dania Vizzi, Austen Smith, and Samantha Simonton
- Gold and a new world record in Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions: Sagen Maddalena, Sarah Beard, and Mary Tucker
- Dania Vizzi: Silver in Women’s Skeet
- Silver in Mixed Trap Team: Rachel Tozier and Derrick Mein
- Sagen Maddalena: Bronze in Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions
- Tim Sherry: Bronze in both 300m Standard Rifle Open and Men’s 300m Prone Rifle
For all 2023 World Championship scores, visit: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/results.ashx?cshipid=3085
For photos, visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usashooting/albums/72177720310449581
Follow @USAShooting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for all of the latest updates and results.