Greenbrier’s Kayle Browning amassed a score of 71 through three qualifying rounds in women’s trap shooting at the 2021 Olympic Games earlier today in Tokyo, settling for a ninth-place tie out of 26 shooters. The 28-year-old is the lone Arkansan competing in this summer’s Olympics.
Slovakia’s Rehak Stefecekova leads the pack with the only perfect 75. Browning’s fellow American Madelynn Bernau is tied with her at 71. Two more rounds of qualifying remain on the second day of qualifying. The top-six shooters advance to the finals.
Browning was born in Conway, graduated from Greenbrier High School and earned a degree in interior design at the University of Central Arkansas.
Browning served as an alternate at the 2012 Olympic Games in London but did not compete. She opened her Olympic debut with a first round of 23, then followed with rounds of 24 in the second and third. Three shooters are tied for sixth place with 73.
Browning’s mantle includes a pair of trap shooting medals from the Pan American Games — a bronze in 2011 and a silver in 2015. She earned a gold medal (2019) and a bronze (2018) in three appearances in the team trap event at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Championships, and took individual and team gold medals at the Championships of the Americas in 2018.
Browning is also set to compete in the mixed trap shooting competition, a new addition to the Olympic slate this summer. Qualifying for that event is scheduled for Friday.
— Eli Lederman