Sagen Maddalena earned a bronze medal in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event at the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on August 21.
The Groveland, California, native, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian and 2022 ISSF President’s Cup bronze medalist, avenged her performance from the 2022 World Championships, where she finished fourth overall in the event. It was that fourth-place finish in 2022 which earned the United States a quota in the event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“Gold is what we are reaching for, but you have to take it one step at a time, so I feel pretty good about it,” Maddalena said.
Maddalena, a soldier in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, also earned the United States gold in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position Team event. Her qualification score, combined with those posted by Sarah Beard and Mary Tucker, earned the U.S. Women’s team the world championship title and a new team world record.
Maddalena has been stacking up medals internationally in the last few years. At the 2022 ISSF World Championship she and teammate Ivan Roe earned gold in 50m Rifle Prone Mixed Team. She also earned silver alongside Alison Weisz and Mary Tucker in Women’s 10m Air Rifle Team.
So far, USA Shooting athletes have garnered a total of six 2023 ISSF World Championship medals. Here is a breakdown.
- Dania Vizzi: Silver in Women’s Skeet
- Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith: Gold in Mixed Skeet Team and a new world record
- Dania Vizzi, Austen Smith and Samantha Simonton: Gold in Women’s Skeet Team and a new world record
- Vincent Hancock, Christian Elliott and Dustan Taylor: Gold in Men’s Skeet Team
- Sagen Maddalena, Sarah Beard and Mary Tucker: Gold and a new world record in Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position
- Sagen Maddalena: Bronze in Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position
See the full results of the match at the ISSF website.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
