Ankita Deokule was the women’s 25m sport pistol junior Olympic champion in 2024, and now she’s an NCAA champion as a freshman at Ohio State. Credit: Courtesy of USA Shooting
Heading into her final five shots, Ankita Deokule’s heart was racing. For the first time, she realized she had a high enough score to not only hit a personal best but possibly have the highest score.?
?As she fired off her last shot, she looked at her score seeing she shot a 297 out of 300.
She immediately knew a niche sport she didn’t even know existed five years ago is now one where she stood at the top of the podium—a national champion.?
Deokule, a freshman, captured the women’s sport pistol national championship, marking a breakthrough moment in a sport she had only discovered a few years earlier. Her title-winning performance not only set a personal best but also capped a rapid rise from newcomer to national champion in one of the Buckeyes’ most quietly dominant programs.
Deokule’s journey into the sport began after she learned that her father, Amol Deokule, competed in air rifle in college in India, even reaching national competitions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic when he looked to return to the sport, a friend directed him to pistol. After joining a local club, he brought Deokule and her younger sister along, sparking what would grow from a casual interest into a college career.
Deokule was first introduced to pistol in early February 2021 and competed in her first big match in December 2021.?
Being from Lutz, Florida, a community about 15 miles north of Tampa, one in which very few even know the sport existed, when she first started competing in matches, it was never something she thought about doing in college.?
“I didn’t even know that was an option,” she said. “I actually started just before my freshman year of high school, so I wasn’t even too into it yet to really be like, ‘Oh yeah that is definitely something I want to do.’”
She said due to distance, Ohio State was never one of her college options that she considered.
Yet, after talking to a recruiter after one of her high school matches junior year everything changed.?
“They were like, ‘You should come up and see how the school is and what you think,’” she said. “After I did, that was when I was like, ‘I really want to do this.’”?
Deokule said that one thing she loves about the sport is the mental aspect of competing, compared to athleticism.?
“You don’t have to be the strongest or the fastest person in the room,” she said. “Of course, your hand has to be steady, so that takes practice, but a lot of it comes from how quickly you bounce back—can you shoot a bad shot and keep moving on?”?
She described the team environment as supportive, which is helpful when competing at such a high level.
“It’s a really small team, so we all get to know each other really well,” Deokule said. “We’re all from totally different backgrounds, but we all come together for one common goal so it’s a very nice team environment.”
Deokule said winning the sport pistol national championship was an exciting experience.
“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything because I didn’t even know I could do that well,” she said. “I just focused on the process, and it ended up going really well.”
Emil Milev, head coach of the pistol team, said Deokule’s dedication to the sport is a perfect example of hard work getting rewarded.?
“She just works hard for the sake of working hard and doesn’t look for approval or external confirmation,” he said. “She’s just internally motivated to do well and to progress towards growth.”
