COLO SPRGS, CO (April 21, 2022) – Henry Leverett, Sagen Maddalena, and Rylan Kissell won their first ever individual ISSF World Cup medals in Rio De Janeiro, April 9-19.
“It feels pretty incredible,” said Leverett, a 2020 Olympian who competes for The Ohio State University Pistol Team. “I was in disbelief initially, but this has been a long time coming and I am thankful to have this opportunity.”
Leverett won bronze in men’s 25m Rapid Fire, Maddalena earned a bronze medal in women’s 3 Position Smallbore, and Kissel won gold in the men’s Air Rifle team event with Lucas Kozeniesky and Will Shaner.
The men’s Air Rifle team made the final round after placing second in qualifications. They secured the gold medal despite having never previously competed together.
“There was an adrenaline rush at the end,” said Kissell, a 2022 NCAA All American Athlete that competes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “I thought ‘We are really about to do this,’ but I stayed composed and we finished out strong.”
The medal count doesn’t stop there, Ali Weisz and Will Shaner won bronze in the 10m Mixed Air Rifle team event and both women’s and men’s Smallbore Rifle teams secured silver and bronze, respectively. The women’s smallbore team consisted of Sagen Maddalena, Mary Tucker, and Morgan Kreb. The men’s team was Ivan Roe, Tim Sherry, and Lucas Kozeniesky.
“The team did extremely well,” said Peter Durben, national rifle coach. “Sagen won her first individual medal and Will made the finals in every event he shot. It was a very good World Cup.”
Up next for the rifle and pistol team is the Baku, Azerbaijan, World Cup, May 27- June 7.
All official results can be found at: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/results.ashx?cshipid=3080