U.S. Women Claim Skeet Team World Title, While U.S. Men Secure Silver

Austen Smith competes during the women's skeet qualification round at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on July 26, 2021 in Asaka, Saitama, Japan.

The U.S. met Italy in two finals Tuesday at the ISSF World Championship for shotgun in Osijek, Croatia.
Facing off for gold medals in the women’s and men’s team skeet competitions, each country walked away with one gold and one silver. 
The U.S. women missed only two of 36 targets in a 6-0 sweep over Italy to win that world title. 
Austen Smith, a 2020 Olympian, hit all 12 of her targets in the gold-medal match. This is the first senior world championship medal for the 21-year-old from Keller, Texas, who has won three world championship medals at the junior level. 
This is also the second senior world championships medal for Samantha Simonton, after she took third in the individual women’s skeet competition over the weekend. The 22-year-old from Gainesville, Georgia, hit 11 of 12 targets in the team gold-medal match. So did Dania Vizzi, who’s taking home her second career world championships gold. The 27-year-old from Tampa, Florida, won the individual women’s skeet gold in Moscow in 2017. 
The U.S. men had a much more dramatic gold-medal match against Italy. The Italians started the match with two perfect rounds. The Americans responded with two perfect rounds of their own to force a fifth round. Each team hit 10 of 12 targets, setting up a shoot-off.  The Italians were one target better in the shoot-off to take home the gold. 
This is the seventh world championships medal for four-time Olympian and three-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock, and his first worlds medal in men’s team skeet. The previous six worlds medals came in the individual skeet competition, including a silver over the weekend.
This is the second world championships medal for Christian Elliott, who won silver in the mixed team skeet in Lonato, Italy, in 2019. This is the first medal at this level for Dustan Taylor. 
The men’s and women’s team skeet competitions concluded three weeks of competition in Osijek. Including the junior events, Team USA won nine total medals, trailing only Italy’s 14. The U.S. tied Great Britain for second place with four gold medals. Italy led with seven.