At the 2023 USA Shooting Pistol Junior Olympic Championships on April 23, Remington Smith of Ashburn, Georgia, earned the title of Junior Olympic Champion in Men’s Air Pistol, along with Abbie Leverett of Bainbridge, Georgia, who earned the same title in the Women’s Sport Pistol competition.
The 2023 USA Shooting Pistol Junior Olympic Championships are at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“I am very thankful to God for the opportunity to come and compete,” Smith said about the win. “It was very humbling.”
Smith was among eight competitors who qualified for the finals. He beat out Joseph Koh, who finished in second place, along with Mark Shen, who finished in third place.
He now has a total of two Junior Olympic Championship titles. Smith landed his first championship back in 2021.
“I was on my toes more at this year’s finals and I felt like I shot better,” Smith said. “I enjoyed the pressure this year.”
As for Leverett, she earned her championship title after defeating silver medalist Riya Salian and Ada Korkhin, who finished in third place. This fall, both Salian and Korkhin will join Leverett at Ohio State University, where all three student-athletes will compete on the school’s pistol team.
“It felt great to win,” Leverett said. “This was my last year as a junior shooter, and I am so grateful for the experiences from these matches throughout the years.”
She comes from a family of competitive shooters. Leverett’s two brothers also compete on the Ohio State University Pistol team.
“I really enjoy that shooting is such a family friendly sport,” Leverett said. “The shooting community as a whole has been so welcoming and it is very special to me.”
The USA Shooting Junior Olympic competition will continue until April 27. The match includes Men’s and Women’s Air Pistol, Men’s and Women’s Sport Pistol, and Men’s Rapid-Fire Pistol.
The competition also determines the U.S. Men’s Air Pistol and Women’s Sport Pistol teams for the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation Junior World Championships to be held in Changwon, Korea, July 14-18. The athletes listed below qualified.
Men’s Air Pistol
- Remington Smith
- Mark Shen
- Marcus Klemp
- Nathan Bae
- Joseph Koh
Women’s Sport Pistol
- Ada Korkhin
- Abbie Leverett
- Riya Salian
- Emily Yoder
- Katherine Ahn
Medals were also awarded in the following categories.
Men’s U18 Air Pistol
- Marcus Klemp, gold
- Nathan Bae, silver
- Ammar Bagasra, bronze
Men’s U15 Air Pistol
- William Regala, gold
- Nathan Lim, silver
- Blake Hankins, bronze
Women’s U18 Sport Pistol
- Jenny Noh, gold
- Katherine Ahn, silver
- Lucia Kim, bronze
Women’s U15 Sport Pistol
- Saanvi Singh, gold
- Eva Allen, silver
- Jia Lee, bronze
You can see the full results of the 2023 USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championships here.
Go to usashooting.org to learn more about USA Shooting.
