By Brittany Nelson, USAS Public Relations & Communications Manager
COLO SPRGS, CO (April 23, 2025) – Mark Shen, of Menlo Park, California, earned the titles of 2025 USA Shooting Junior Olympic Champion in both Men’s Sport Pistol and Air Pistol in Talladega and Anniston, Alabama, April 13-18, hosted by the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
“Winning both the air and sport pistol titles at the Junior Olympics is honestly surreal,” said Shen, a 2024 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championship team member. “It’s a huge honor, and I’m just really grateful that the hard work paid off. I’m also grateful to have met all the other athletes and competed with people of such a high caliber.”
At just sixteen years old, Shen already has an impressive shooting career. Shen trained at the Bridge Junior Shooting Club in California and was formerly coached by the late In Kim. The junior athlete has competed in three international competitions, representing the U.S. on a global stage.
“Most of my training is dry fire, which has really sharpened my focus and discipline,” said Shen. “During matches, the most important thing I focus on is following and trusting my process. I also owe a lot to Coach Kim from Bridge Junior Club for everything he taught me, to Team Winning Solutions and Coach Lexi, and to the Palo Alto Gun Range for letting me train there.”
Shen was among over 200 junior pistol athletes to compete at the 2025 Pistol Junior Olympic Championships. All competitors were 21 years of age or younger and were invited to the championships after shooting a qualifying score at a state-level competition.
In addition to Shen, Rachel Kim was crowned champion in Junior Women’s Sport Pistol and Eva Allan in Junior Women’s Air Pistol. Kim trains at the Bridge Junior Shooting Club where she is coached by Janice Choi. Kim competed in the 2023 ISSF Junior World Championships. Allan, from Mooresville, North Carolina, has made remarkable strides in her ranking over the past year. In 2024, she captured the title of U15 Junior Olympic Champion in Women’s Air Pistol, and in 2025, built on that achievement by becoming the overall Junior Olympic Champion.
Awards were also earned in U18 and U15 age categories. See all results from the 2025 competition here.
This year’s competition brought even more excitement, as it served as the qualifier for the air pistol and rifle teams heading to the 2025 Junior Pan American Games this August in Asunción, Paraguay. The Junior Pan American Games take place every four years and consist of athletes from North, South, and Central American countries.
Suman Sanghera, Sneha Gupta, Marcus Klemp, and Nathan Lim will represent the U.S. Air Pistol team this August. The four athletes qualified for the team by finishing with the overall top aggregate air pistol scores.
USA Shooting is proud to have a handful of great supporters, sponsor and partners. Among many others, we would like to thank The NRA Foundation, Hillsdale College, The International Order of T. Roosevelt, The Hal & Jean Glassen Foundation, Safari Club International, MidwayUSA Foundation, and ELEY.