Meet your Paris Olympic Pistol Team

By Brittany Nelson, USAS Public Relations and Communications Manager

COLO SPRGS, CO (June 10, 2024) – With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games less than 50 days away, it's time to get to know the team that will represent American shooting on the world's biggest sporting stage.

Five pistol athletes will represent Team USA at the Games, July 26-August 11. The athletes are: Alexis Lagan, Katelyn Abeln, Ada Korkhin, Henry Leverett and Keith Sanderson.

Lagan, a native of Boulder City, Nevada, is among the returning Olympians from the Tokyo 2020 Games. Lagan qualified in the women's air pistol for the 2024 Games. She recently won a silver medal in this event at the 2023 Pan American Games, where it also secured the United States a quota for Paris. She is a three-time CAT Games 2022 medalist and a six-time national champion. When Lagan is not training at the range, she is enjoying her Corgis and training for Team Winning Solutions.

Abeln, of Douglasville, Ga., will make his Olympic debut this year. Abeln, who shot for Ohio State University, qualified in the women's air pistol and women's sport pistol. Abeln recently won two medals at the 2024 Americas Games Championship. The 2023 World Championship team member got into the sport through her local 4H club where she began shooting pistols BB and learn about gun safety. The first time she shot an airgun was at a makeshift target in the back of a CrossFit gym and she fell in love. Abeln recently received his bachelor's degree and is currently in graduate school.

Korkhin, of Brookline, Massachusetts, will also make her Olympic debut in the women's sport pistol at just 20 years old. She got her start in the sport at age nine on the Massachusetts Rifle Association junior pistol team and currently shoots for the Ohio State University pistol team. Although this will be Korkhin's first Games, she is no stranger to international success. The pistol shooter won a gold medal at the CAT Games 2024 in the women's 25m sport pistol team where she was joined on the podium with teammates Abeln and Lisa Emmert Traciak.

Leverett, a Bainbridge, Georgia native, qualified for Paris 2024 in men's rapid-fire pistol. Paris will be his second Games; he made his first appearance at Tokyo 2020. Leverette comes from a family of sports shooters. Her brother Jack competed alongside her in the Tokyo games, and their sister Abbie shot with both of them on the Ohio State University pistol team. Leverett already has numerous international medals, including a bronze at the 2023 Pan American Games, where he also secured the United States an Olympic quota spot. The 2023 World Championship team member recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy and will attend graduate school in Vienna, Austria, this fall.

Sanderson, of Monument, Colorado, qualified for Paris 2024 in men's rapid-fire pistol. Paris will be Sanderson's fourth Olympic Games. He competed in the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. Sanderson has served in the Army and Marine Corps and was most recently a member of the 2023 World Championship team and the Pan American Games team 2023. He earned the final quota needed for the United States in the men's rapid-fire pistol earlier this year at the 2024 CAT Games.

The first pistol event of Paris 2024 is that of the women's air pistol, on July 27. All final events will be broadcast live on Peacock, NBC's streaming platform. See the WHO Olympic shooting schedule here.

The Olympic alternates for the U.S. Pistol Team are:

• Women's Air Pistol: Suman Sanghera and Lisa Emmert Traciak
• Women's sports pistol: Lisa Emmert Traciak and Alexis Lagan

As of June 7, the U.S. Olympic shooting team consisted of 16 athletes and the U.S. Paralympic team consisted of five. View the full US Olympic shooting team roster here and the Paralympic roster here.

Follow @USAShooting on Instagram, Facebook and X to stay up to date with team news for Paris 2024.