USA Shooting athlete Sam Simonton walked away from the women’s skeet event with a silver medal after an exciting final at the 2025 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Wednesday, May 7.
“I came here to get some training under pressure, and that’s exactly what I did—I am happy with it,” Simonton, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and three-time world championship medalist said. “I would have liked to shoot better in this final and qualifications, but I had good takeaways from this match.”
At the 2025 ISSF World Cup, the Gainesville, Georgia, native, shot a qualification score of 120/125, putting her in a four-way tie for fifth place. Simonton then won a shoot-off to secure her spot in the final.
“Shooting off to get into the final is pretty dang tough,” Simonton, the 2024 ISSF World Cup Final champion said. “Mentally you feel a lot of pressure, at least I do. I came here to prepare mentally for competitions so that was great practice, and I am happy with it.”
In the final, Simonton finished with a score of 52, besting Yufei Che of China by 11 points, the latter finishing in third place. Arina Kuznetsova (Individual Neutral Athletes) won the gold medal with a score of 54.
Simonton’s silver medal brings her ISSF World Cup medal total to six and her overall international medal count to 12. She most recently earned another silver medal at the 2025 ISSF Lima World Cup in April during a thrilling final where Team USA swept the podium in women’s skeet.
You can see the results of the 2025 ISSF Cyprus World Cup at this link.
Simonton is now preparing for the 2025 USA Shooting National Championships in Hillsdale, Michigan, from May 22 to June 1. The competition is a selection match for the national shotgun team.
“My Army teammates and I are working hard on new strategies to figure out how to get better, and ultimately win,” Simonton said.
The U.S. team is still currently competing at the 2025 ISSF Cyprus World Cup, with trap events still to come.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
