James Willett is aiming for gold in the Olympic trap shooting and is off to a perfect start
James Willett is off to a perfect start in the trap shooting, the wild and wonderful sport that is such an important part of the Olympics.
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Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Olympic trap shooting.
Where Russell Mark suggests a preposterous comeback for fellow champion Michael Diamond, this week coaching Qatar, is not out of question once his 10-year shooting ban in Australia expires.
And where a lack of Australian funding means Mark is coaching Australian world No.2 James Willett while having also helped qualify his Qatari and Indian pupils in this Olympic cycle.
Those scenarios are as crazy as they seem given the long life span of Olympic shooting as Australia’s two highest-profile shooting gold medallist remain front and centre of the sport.
Australian pair Willett and Mitch Iles will compete in the 125-target qualifiers as competitors hit a clay target measuring just over 10cm shooting out at 15 different angles with velocities around 100km an hour.
They shoot 75 targets on Monday in France then 50 on Tuesday, ahead of a potential six-person final on Tuesday afternoon.
On the first morning of competition Willett nailed a perfect 25 shots in his first rotation to get off to a strong start.
Iles, the grandfather of shooting royalty in Bill Iles, is back after securing his spot in the 2016 Olympics team at Diamond’s expense when he was hit with 10-year shooting ban in Australia for firearms and drink-driving offences.
The firearms charges were dropped after his brother reported him as part of a family dispute but it was enough for Diamond to lose his power to shoot in Australia.
As 52-year-old Diamond told News Corp last week, he is a changed man as he helps the impossibly wealthy Qatar with their Olympic campaign.
And according to Mark, who had a stint in that job early in the Olympic cycle, there is no reason he couldn’t return to shoot for Australia when that ban expires in two years.
“I think he is still good enough to be shooting for Australia,” Mark said.
“I didn’t think he deserved the gun ban in Australia. Qatar have signed him as a coach and I can see him coaching on for a few more years yet. Australia’s loss is Qatar’s gain. He is in a good head space and I can see him doing really well in that role.’’
Mark’s wife Lauren, an Australian Olympic skeet shooter, has also helped set up elite programs in Qatar in recent years.
Melbourne-based Mark runs several hospitality venues in Australia so prefers consultancy roles to the long months of slog in Qatar but says a week’s wage in the oil state can garner more than two month’s salary back home.
He coached Australia’s Willett for free when the Australian medal hope crashed out in the Oceania qualifiers, forcing him to chase world ranking points before qualifying for Paris.
For Atlanta gold medallist Diamond the transition to coaching is only the latest chapter in a decorated and eventful sporting career.
“I really enjoy it. There is a lot more stress involved because I am not in control of the situation,” he said.
“When I used to speak to myself when I was competing I would go and do it but its different when you are giving the message to somebody who is not as experienced as you were. But it is a challenge and I am for a challenge.’’
IT’S BEEN STRESSFUL
AS the world’s No.2 ranked trap shooter and Australia’s best medal hope in Paris Willett expected a smooth, uncomplicated path to his third Olympics.
Instead a shock upset in last October’s Oceania Championships pitched him into a round-the-world odyssey frantically chasing an elusive quota spot for a Paris Olympics berth.
As a result the 28-year-old apprentice carpenter is pressure-tested, battle-hardened and ready.
Desperate to regain that quota position by accumulating ranking points as his Plan B after his shock loss to New Zealander Owen Robinson in the Olympic qualifier, he won bronze in the Morocco World Cup then gold in Baku, Azerbaijan.
It has resulted in 10 weeks on the road already this season away from wife Amy and his part-time apprenticeship.
But also provided a steely resolve that when the going gets tough in the Olympic trap qualifying he is ready for any setback that comes his way.
“It’s been a long process, a stressful few months trying to qualify for the Games,” Willett said.
“Even the process to qualify by securing the world ranking quota after not securing one of them in the main qualifying period.
“We relied on the last-minute World Cup result for me to win in Baku which gave me the points to secure that quota. The Doha event (finishing 17th) didn’t go to plan so there have been a lot of unknowns and a lot of stress. It’s all gone to plan in the end.”
Willett believes the confidence from having come through in the clutch this year can only help his Paris aspirations when the pressure comes, as he knows it will.
“It came down to having to medal at the last world cups. The last World Cup I went to was stressful,” Willett said.
“I knew I had to make the final and I knew a medal would boost me up (the rankings). Two of the other guys who were close to me were in the final with me and thankfully it all went to plan. I have had this plan since 2022 to have this quota system there if needed and it went to plan in that sense but there were a lot of moving cogs in the process.”
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