19-year-old Austen Smith Becomes the Youngest American Shooter in Tokyo Olympics 2021 team

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Shreya Verma

Jul 6, 2021 | 6:28 AM EDT

19-year-old Austen Smith Becomes the Youngest American Shooter in Tokyo Olympics 2021 team

Add us on Google

Shreya Verma

Jul 6, 2021 | 6:28 AM EDT

The 20-member shooting contingent is all set to raise USA’s flag at the Tokyo Olympics 2021. The USA being the powerhouse in shooting sport leads the Olympic medal tally with 110 medals.

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Interestingly, a blend of experienced and young shooters will represent team USA at Tokyo Olympics 2021. The 19-year-old Austen Smith is the youngest member of the team. Notably, she qualified for Tokyo when she was 18-year-old.

Smith will compete in the skeet women’s event. Shotgun has been USA’s strongest suit in Olympic shooting. The 19-year-old shooter belongs to Dallas, Texas, and has been consistently producing medal-winning performances since 2019.

Austen defeated world #1 Great Britain?s Amber Hill

Smith defeated world #1 Amber Hill at the 2021 ISSF World Cup Lonato to clinch the gold medal. In the skeet women’s final, she outnumbered Amber by hitting 55/60. While Hill scored 52/60 followed by Danka Bartekova of Slovakia with 43/60.

During the Lonato world cup finals, she was also the youngest shooter in the top six. Austen shot to fame in 2019 during ISSF Junior World Cup, Suhl, as she bagged the gold medal.

Sports Pic of the day: Nineteen-year-old Austen Smith wins gold in the women's skeet for @USAShooting at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Cup in Lonato pic.twitter.com/XdA7UjE5EB
— Calacus PR (@Calacus_PR) May 11, 2021

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USA’s most decorated and successful shooter, Vincent Hancock, has been training the young shooter. She will compete alongside another Tokyo-bound and experienced American shooter Amber English.

Keller, we have an Olympian!
Austen Smith, 19, is the youngest member of the USA Shooting Olympic Team who will be in Tokyo and representing Team USA!
All the best to Austen as she seeks to bring Team USA and Team Keller that gold medal! #KellerProud #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/k7OfhIMQdq
— Mayor Armin Mizani (@ArminMizaniTX) July 2, 2021

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Unexpectedly, the 6-time Olympic medalist and skeet legend Kim Rhodes is not competing this year. Albeit, Austen, and Amber have been fairing well at the World Cups.

After qualifying for Tokyo Olympics, Austen is now pursuing aerospace engineering at the University of Texas, Arlington. Smith will celebrate her maiden Olympics and her birthday on the Tokyo Olympics opening day, 23rd of July.

Team USA for Tokyo Olympics 2021

The shotgun team will be the USA’s best shot at the Tokyo Olympics 2021. Here is the full list of the Tokyo-bound USA shooters.

SHOTGUN:?

Skeet– Vincent Hancock, Philip Jungman, Austen Smith, Amber English

Trap– Madelynn Bernau, Kayle Browning, Brian Burrows, Derrick Mein

PISTOL:

10m air pistol: James Hall, Nick Mowrer

25m pistol: Alexis Lagan, Sandra Uptagrafft, Henry Leverett, Jack Leverett III

RIFLE:?

10m air rifle: Lucas Kozeneisky, Will Shaner, Mary Tucker, Ali Weisz

50m rifle, 3positions: Sagen Maddalena, Nick Mowrer, Patrick Sunderman, Mary Tucker

Written by

Shreya Verma

609 Articles

Shreya Verma is a US Sports Content Strategist at EssentiallySports, with a focus on Olympic sports and athlete storytelling, covering beats like tennis, gymnastics, basketball, track and field, wrestling, and more. A qualified National Level air pistol shooter, she brings the unique perspective of both an athlete and a journalist to her work. Over the past four years at EssentiallySports, she has covered some of the biggest sporting stages, from managing the Olympic Sports desk during the Winter Olympics 2022 to spearheading the US Open 2025 coverage and content strategy. In 2024, she was on the ground in Paris for the Summer Olympics, where she interviewed legends and rising stars, including Carl Lewis, Laurie Hernandez, Fred Kerley, Noah Lyles, Quincy Hall, and Grant Holloway, who memorably offered her the chance to try on his gold medal. She also connected with icons and fan favorites such as Tom Brady, Katie Ledecky, Tara Davis & Hunter Woodhall, Andy Murray, Ilona Maher, Kevon Williams, Jonathan Owens, and Neeraj Chopra, while capturing emotional family perspectives from Nellie Biles, Jordan Chiles’ mother, Suni Lee’s mother, and Katie Ledecky’s brother, Michael. Her journalism is marked by authenticity, access, and a deep passion for highlighting perseverance and human connection in sports. Inspired by Olympic champions like Allyson Felix and Vincent Hancock, Shreya continues to carve her path as a storyteller.

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