At the Malakasa Shooting Range near Athens on Saturday, October 18, Team USA’s Glenn Eller and Ava Downs clinched a 2025 ISSF World Championship Shotgun bronze medal in a high-pressure Trap Mixed Team final, edging Egypt 39-37.
The medal marked a milestone for both U.S. shooters: Eller’s first ISSF medal in trap, having previously earned a world podium in double trap, and the first world medal for 20-year-old Downs.
The bronze medal shoot-off began with dramatic swings in momentum. Team USA came out flawless, hitting all four opening targets, while Egypt’s Ahmed Zahar and Maggy Ashmawy missed all of theirs. But the script flipped immediately, as the Egyptians cleaned the next series while the Americans faltered, bringing the score level at 4-4. By the end of the first round, Team USA had a razor-thin 6-5 advantage.
From there, Eller’s Olympic experience shone through. He hit five straight in the second round, while Downs added four more. Egypt couldn’t match that consistency, falling behind 15-12. Although Egypt found rhythm in the third round—Zahar hitting every shot and Ashmawy missing just one—they only managed to narrow the gap to 23-21.
In the fourth round, both American shooters stumbled early, allowing Egypt to draw even briefly. But a trio of crucial misses by Ashmawy brought the momentum back to the U.S. Downs missed two in the final round, creating a tense moment as Egypt closed the gap. But with the match on the line, Downs nailed her last target, sealing the 39-37 victory and bronze medal for the Americans.
The Trap Mixed Team gold went to Italy’s Massimo Fabbrizi and Alessia Iezzi, who topped San Marino’s Gian Marco Berti and Alessandra Perilli in the final matchup. Egypt had earlier edged Slovakia’s Erik Varga and Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova to earn their place in the bronze medal round.
Team USA’s success in Athens didn’t stop at bronze. In the Trap Men’s Team event, the American trio of Will Hinton, Derrick Mein and Glenn Eller combined for a score of 361, good enough for the silver medal—just seven points shy of Croatia, who took gold. Hinton led the U.S. scoring with 123, followed by Mein with 120 and Eller with 118, adding another podium to his loaded week.
See the full results of the match at the ISSF website.
With four earlier gold medals in skeet, the latest results bring Team USA’s tally at the 2025 ISSF World Championship Shotgun to six medals: four gold, one silver and one bronze. As the dust settles on the shotgun range, Team USA has once again proven its depth and resilience on the world stage.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
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