A few months after already breaking the junior world record at the ISSF World Cup in Tangier, Britain’s Bethany Norton has done it again at the Junior World Championships in Suhl, claiming the world title with another junior world record. Still only 19, Norton led a British one-two in the final ahead of Phoebe Bodley-Scott, with the pair also going on to strike gold together in the team event.
Bethany Norton confirms her status as Britain seals a one-two
At the Junior World Championships in Suhl, Bethany Norton claimed the women’s junior skeet world title by producing a new junior world record of 34 hits in the final, improving on the mark that had already seen her make history earlier in the season.
The performance further underlined the trajectory Norton has been on since the start of 2026. Back in March, she had already won an ISSF World Cup event in Tangier against several established names from the senior circuit, setting her first junior world record in the process. That victory proved to be a genuine turning point in her season, and Suhl has now allowed her to go one step further by adding the junior world title to her growing résumé.
The final itself quickly turned into a British showcase. Norton took control of the contest early on and missed just a single target before the closing stages, a sign of remarkable composure in a format where the smallest error can prove decisive. Behind her, Phoebe Bodley-Scott completed a superb day for the United Kingdom by taking silver with 32 hits. Having stayed in touch with Norton for much of the final, Bodley-Scott also delivered a performance of genuine quality, allowing British shooting to secure an especially eye-catching one-two on the world stage.
In the team event, Bethany Norton and Phoebe Bodley-Scott, alongside Jessica Louise Hambrook, delivered a second world title for the United Kingdom in the women’s junior skeet. Their combined total of 336 targets saw the British trio finish ahead of Czechia and Italy, capping an outstanding championship for the team.
This double success, both individually and collectively, is part of the wider momentum British shooting has built in recent seasons. At senior level, Nathan Hales delivered Olympic gold for the British team in trap at Paris 2024, doing so with a new Olympic record, while Amber Rutter came within touching distance of gold in skeet before being denied in a final that remains highly controversial. Before that, Matthew Coward-Holley had already brought home an Olympic medal in trap at Tokyo. At junior level, Maddie Russell had also made a significant impression by becoming junior world champion in skeet in 2024.
