DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A young Douglasville native is bound for Paris after qualifying over the weekend for the USA Shooting team and the 2024 Olympics.
Katelyn Abeln qualified to represent Team USA in the women's 10m air pistol event at USA Shooting's qualifiers in Anniston, Alabama. Paris will mark her first trip to the Olympics, after she was an alternate for Tokyo 2020 and before that a silver medal winner at the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships.
Abeln's father, Jerry Aebln, spoke Wednesday with 11Alive Anchor Cheryl Preheim, saying his daughter "hasn't even processed it yet."
"She is so dedicated," Jerry Abeln said. "Between graduate school and everything she juggles, it's not easy. It's been an amazing journey."
A South Paulding High School class of 2019 graduate, Katelyn currently competes on the Ohio State University shooting team. She started with sport shooting in just the fourth grade, and when she was 12 switched to air pistol.
There's a decent chance the 10m air pistol event won't be her only appearance in Paris -- her 2018 world championships silver medal came in the 25m pistol event, and she won gold in this event at the 2022 Shooting Championship of the Americas.
That 2022 victory earned Team USA its Olympic quota for the event - meaning they can enter a competitor in it. They haven't yet held qualifiers for the 25m pistol event for Paris.
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