"VAN" (Sports Desk - 13.10.2025) :: Samantha Simonton of the United States continued to have a 2025 season to remember, winning the women's skeet gold medal with a tremendous score of 57 at the 2025 ISSF World Championship Shotgun at the Malakasa Shooting Range, near Athens, Greece.
The 25-year-old would claim her first ISSF World Championship in the process, holding off the underdog Gabriela Rodriguez from Mexico, who finished on 54 for her first world medal. Sweden's Victoria Larsson matched her result from the 2019 final for the bronze medal.
For the first final of the ISSF World Championship Shotgun, several guests were in the stands. These included ISSF President Luciano Rossi; European Olympic Committees President and IOC Executive Board member Spyros Capralos; ISSF Secretary General Alessandro Nicotra di San Giacomo; Greek Secretary General of Sports, Georgios Mavrotas; Hellenic Shooting Federation President, Athanasios Papageorgiou; Hellenic Olympic Committee President, Isidoros Kouvelos; and Organising Committee President, Ioannis Kilakos.
Others in attendance were Vice President of the Greek Government, Kotsis Hatzidakis; Members of the Greek Parliament, Dora Bakoyiannis and Dimitris Kalogeropoulos; and businessman Petros Pappas.
The Final
With one ISSF World Cup gold and two silvers to her name this season, it shocked no one to see the American Simonton top qualification. She was followed in bib numbers by Rodriguez and Cypriot Konstantia Nikolaou, a surrogate medal hope for the home fans, who would also be cheering on the Greek Emmanouela Katzouraki. Jiang Yiting of China and Larsson donned the fifth and sixth bibs.
Heartache for the Home Favourites
It was a perfect start for Simonton and Larsson, who cleared all of their first 10 targets, with Rodriguez one back on nine and the other three on eight. Heading into the last four shots before the first elimination, the front two finally recorded a miss, bringing them two ahead of the rest on 15 to the chasing pack's 13.
But when it was crunch time, Rodriguez delivered, clearing all four shots. The same could not be said for Nikolaou, who recorded a double miss, putting her in danger of elimination. Katzouraki would also miss a target in her first double and took time to compose herself, knowing another miss could see her exit in sixth. That second miss would come and her fate would be sealed when Jiang Yiting of China scored all four shots to stay in the competition. Meanwhile a miss for Simonton gave Larsson the lead for the first time, by one shot.
After shot 30, a couple of misses from the Swede brought her back level with the American with 27 each. Rodriguez performed well to keep it close with a total of 26. Nikolaou would again struggle in her final two shots, with the Cypriot recording another double miss, meaning she would have to rely on Jiang missing all four shots. The Chinese would only hit one target successfully. Although it confirmed she would stay in the competition, it effectively condemned her to fourth position.
The Battle for the Medals
Clean shooting was seen throughout the next elimination phase, until the final shot on the 40th target. With Simonton and Rodriguez clear on 37 and 36, Larsson would miss her last target, dropping her to 36 and now level with the Mexican. With the Swede being the sixth seed, she needed a mistake from Rodriguez to remain in the battle for gold.
Instead, the pressure would get to Larsson, who missed on target 44, ultimately ending her hopes of a gold medal. It would match the bronze she claimed six years ago at the ISSF World Championship in Lonato, doing so after being faced with some tricky targets.
Rodriguez would miss another target to make the gap two and into the final 10 shots, another would make the deficit three with six shots to go. It was testament to the American's consistency that she missed just three shots from 60 and in doing so, won her first world title to continue what has been a stellar year for the 25-year-old. Rodriguez, in her first world final, would score 54 for the silver medal. The 28-year-old had never won individual silverware at any ISSF event before this.
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