US shooting team wins five Olympic medals at the 2024 Paris Games and makes history

By Brittany Nelson, USAS PR and Communications Manager

COLO SPGS, CO (August 15, 2024) – The U.S. Olympic shooting team brought home five medals and made history at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games July 26-August 11 at the Chateauroux Shooting Range in France.

Say Maddalena, a native of Groveland, California, won the first U.S. medal in shooting with a silver in the women's 50m smallbore rifle. In a thrilling final, Maddalena, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, defeated Qiongyue Zhang of China, who took third place. Official results can be found here. Maddalena also made the final in the women's 10m air rifle, placing fourth.

Vincent Hancock of Eatonton, Georgia, won the second U.S. shooting medal and made Olympic history. He won his fourth gold medal in men's skeet and became the sixth Olympian ever to win four gold medals in the same event. He joins Al Oerter (USA, discus), Paul Elvstrom (Denmark, singles sailing), Carl Lewis (USA, long jump), Michael Phelps (USA, 200m individual medley) and Mijain Lopez (Cuba, Greco-Roman heavyweight) as the first Olympian in shooting to accomplish this feat.

Conner Prince of Burleson, Texas, joined Hancock on the podium as he won silver in the men's skeet. Prince and Hancock's double podium marked the first time the U.S. has won more than one medal in men's skeet at an Olympic Games. It was also the first time more than one U.S. athlete competed in an Olympic men's skeet final. Official results can be found here.

Austen Smith of Keller, Texas, secured her first Olympic medal in women's skeet. Smith posted a total qualifying score of 122/125. She tied with Amber Rutter of Great Britain in qualifying and then won a 14-point shootoff to earn the number one seed for the finals. In the finals, Smith defeated Vanessa Hockova of Slovakia, who finished fourth. See the official results here.

Smith and Hancock teamed up to win the fifth and final medal for the United States in mixed team skeet. The duo took silver, narrowly losing to Italy in the gold medal match. Smith and Hancock were favorites to medal as they are the 2023 world champions in the discipline. The pair make a dynamic team as Hancock is Smith's coach. Hancock also coaches Prince alongside Smith at Northlake Shooting Sports in Northlake Texas, a facility he co-owns.

Another historic moment was made in Paris when Katelyn Abeln qualified for the finals in the women's 25-meter sport pistol. Abeln, of Douglasville, Georgia, is the first American woman to ever qualify for an Olympic pistol final. She finished eighth overall. Find the official results here.

USA Shooting’s total Paralympic and Olympic medals now stand at 126.

All medals from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris can be found below:

1. Sagen Maddalena: Silver, 50 m small-bore rifle women
2. Vincent Hancock: Gold, men's skeet
3. Conner Prince: Silver, Men’s Skeet
4. Austen Smith: Bronze, Women's Skeet
5. Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith: Silver, mixed team skeet

The Paralympic team is preparing for the start of the Games from August 28 to September 8. The full schedule for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games can be found here.

Follow @USAShooting on Instagram, Facebook and X to hear all about USA Shooting and their results in Paris 2024.