You just want to make some friends in college, so you join an activity. But it isn’t always what you think it’ll be. Just ask Lexi Lagan what it can lead to. In her case – the Olympics!
Sponsored by Walther Arms
Childhood
As the fourth generation from Boulder City, Nevada, Lexi was raised around guns.
“Our family would really go out to the range every other weekend to just have fun. We were taught early on about firearm safety and respect for them as tools as well as how to enjoy the sport,” explains Lexi.
College
Then in 2011, she went off to college at the University of Utah. “I was just trying to find some friends and social activities to do. One of the groups that I joined was the Utah Precision Marksmanship Society. It was just supposed to be a fun hobby.”
The Olympics
After a couple of years, Lexi realized that she was good at the sport and her coach encouraged her to try out for the Olympics. “At first, I brushed it off – it’s a hobby, I’m a physics major.” But in 2015 she decided to try for the Olympic trials in Rio and in 2016 she ended up as the alternate for women’s air pistol. “It was a pretty big jump from not really taking this seriously to being the second runner-up to go to the Olympics. So, I started thinking I’m kind of good at this, I better take it a little bit more seriously,” she laughs.
In 2017, Lexi graduated from the University of Utah and moved to Colorado Springs where she began training at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center for the Tokyo 2020 games. “My coach, Jason Turner, and I were working quite diligently on it, and I made the team in early 2020 with about a 40-point lead on my next competitor. Then as my husband and I were flying home from the trials, we heard rumblings of this weird flu-type thing going on. Then it felt like the next week the world shut down with COVID,” she remembers.
In 2021 things opened back up and Lexi went to Tokyo to compete. “It wasn’t my best performance but it was my very first match at my very first Olympics, so I had a little grace on that one. But my Sport Pistol match was awesome. I was only four points out of the final and that placement at the Olympics pushed me up into the top 10 in the world in world ranking.”
Lexi’s wins are impressive. She was the first US woman to ever receive an invitation to the ISSF President’s Cup, an international competition consisting of the top 12 in the world, and she was in the top 10.
Lexi’s next big event will be the Olympics in Paris in July 2024.
Walther Partnership
Lexi started shooting the Walther LP 500 in late 2021. “I asked to try the LP500 with the electronic trigger because I’d heard about them, but never used one before.”
Unexpected Joys
Lexi says her biggest surprise and greatest joy from her experiences has been the friendships she’s made. “I joined the marksmanship team at the University of Utah to make friends. Little did I know that nine years down the line I would end up making so many friends, so many lifelong relationships.”
Another unexpected outcome is that Lexi is now a coach. “It was originally a way to make a little bit of extra money. As Olympic athletes, we don’t make money and there are a lot of things we have to pay for ourselves. But with coaching, I’ve realized that being able to share this passion and watch it blossom in younger athletes is so gratifying for me.”
Appreciation
“I would like to send out a shout-out to all the people that have supported me through kind words and encouragement. Thank you to my sponsors because that support is really important for athletes. Finally, to my family: I love you. Thank you for everything.”
You can follow Lexi’s progress at her website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter platforms.
Nancy Keaton is a retired college administrator, president of her local gun club, competitive shooter and freelance writer whose work has appeared in A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League, "American Shooting Journal," "American Concealed," "Northwest Meetings + Events," and other publications. She enjoys writing about a wide variety of topics and interviewing ordinary people doing amazing things. To see a compilation of her writing, check out her website at www.nancykeaton.com. View all posts by Nancy Keaton
