Australia’s Olympic gold medallist Russell Mark pleads for shooting to remain an Olympic sport

He became a household name on the back of his stunning Olympic career. And as he prepares for one of Australian sport’s highest honours, Russell Mark is going in to bat for shooting.

Russell Mark during competition at Atlanta Olympic Games.

Olympic gold medallist Russell Mark has slammed the decision to drop shooting from the Commonwealth Games and pleaded for it to remain an Olympic sport.

Mark, who will be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on October 10, declared that Shooting Australia must do more to promote it and hoped world authorities would protect the besieged sport.

The six-time Olympian revealed that the gun debate — often in the wake of mass shootings in the US — had worn him down and was part of the reason that he had stepped away from the media spotlight.

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Russell Mark waves an Australian flag after winning gold in the men's double trap at the Atlanta Olympics.

“Shooting needs some positive publicity. It’s no secret it’s been dropped as a sport at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and that caught everyone off guard,” Mark said.

“Before you know it, it’ll be out of the Olympics. Unless the shooting sports can put up some sort of case to defend it.

“Things like this make people realise that not all firearms owners are criminals. It’s a big part of the Australian sporting culture — we’ve won a lot of Olympic medals.

“For a long time I was the go-to person when something tragic happened with a firearm and I was the person to try to put a positive spin on it. You get sick of that.

“Society needs stricter laws against people who miss-use firearms. But it’s the criminals causing the problems, not the licensed firearms owners.”

Mark recalled how he and fellow gold medallist Michael Diamond helped change perceptions of the sport during Atlanta 1996.

“I guess I started the ball rolling, myself and Michael Diamond back in ’96 changed people’s opinion of the sport — it was just a couple of months after the tragic circumstances of Port Arthur,” Mark said.

“Our sport was at the crossroads in ’96 and I did see a change because of the medals we started to win.”

He said the sport must publicise itself better.

“We won gold (Penny Smith) and bronze (Laetisha Scanlan, who’s trained by Mark) medals at World Cup last weekend — and there was no publicity. It’s the fault of Shooting Australia, not doing their job at marketing the sport,” Mark said.

Russell Mark at the London Games in 2012.

‘I WANTED TO PLAY FOR CARLTON’: MARK

For a reluctant shooter, Mark’s extraordinary success pays homage to his razor-sharp focus and immense talent.

But Mark reckons he could have given up as quickly as he started. He merely took up the sport to kill time while recovering from an ankle injury suffered playing his first love, Australian rules.

“I really wanted to play full-forward for Carlton, but realised that I was never going to end up there,” Mark said.

“When the opportunity came to have a shot at the Sebastopol Club in Ballarat, and my father had done quite a bit of clay target shooting, they wanted me to do it but I wanted to play footy and cricket.

“I went to a novice competition at 14, missed the last target and it gutted me. If I had hit that target I don’t know if I would’ve come back until I was too old to play football.

“It just interested me enough to (keep going).

Mark: “I wanted to play footy and cricket.”

“I went back and ended up winning a novice event and at 16 I became the national Australian Open champion and accelerated through the sport quickly.”

Fast forward 40-odd years and only equestrian rider Andrew Hoy (seven) has competed in more Olympics than Mark (six), who won a gold and silver medal at the highest level — and it would have been more if not for visions of driving the infamous golden Holden in Werribee.

But Mark has no regrets, acknowledging that his maligned sport has enabled him to live a privileged life.

“In ’96 I got a call from someone representing the Sultan of Brunei who said we want you to coach his little brother,’’ Mark said.

“I flew over and I remember him asking how much did I want to get paid? I thought of a figure and multiplied it by 10 and said it. Within half a second he said, ‘Yes’, then you could hear me on the other end of the phone going, ‘F--k it’. I should’ve multiplied it by 100.

“But it was an amazing experience, and a really lovely guy. He competed at the following Commonwealth Games.

“Because the sport does have a lot of wealthy people in it, it’s opened up a lot of doors for me to do a lot of other things.

“I’ve become really good friends with Russell Crowe. He’s a mad keen shooter and quite good at it. I do a lot of shooting with him these days.

“All these things have only come about because I won an Olympic gold medal. They do open up different doors.”

Mark’s feats will be recognised on October 10, when he becomes just the second shooter, after the great Donald McIntosh, to be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Spirit of Australia on show at Australian sport's 'night of nights'.

50 days to the 35th Sport Australia Hall of Fame gala dinner on Thursday 10th October, 2019.

Bookings and more info at https://t.co/rCVEpFGfJY pic.twitter.com/vhVXvE0gKz

— Sport Aus HallofFame (@SportAusHoF) August 20, 2019

The Hoppers Crossing resident admitted his 1996 double trap gold was born from his ’92 capitulation, when the occasion got to him.

“The day I went to the ’92 Olympics I was late getting to Tullamarine Airport because the old Ballan Holden was on fire and the whole freeway was shut down,’’ he said.

“And it was ironic because they were offering a golden Holden if you could actually win the ’92 Olympics. I came close, I only lost by a couple of points — myself and Michael Diamond both had chances to win.

“I remember thinking about how good am I gonna look in Watton St driving that golden Holden. It absolutely caused me to miss — you only have to be distracted for a little while.

“It was a material mistake but I learnt from it. It was the best thing that ever happened. In ’96 when I was faced with that exact same situation, I went on to win by a record amount because I didn’t let it happen again.

“That word Olympic puts a lot of people off. It put me off in ’92 and probably ’88 as well.

“I’ve seen it time and time again, so many world champions go to the Olympics and don’t win.”

While keeping a low profile, Mark’s influence extends to coaching Australia’s world No.1 James Willop and fellow Tokyo 2020 gold medal contender Laetisha Scanlan.

He also met his wife through the sport, and appreciates fellow Olympian Lauryn Mark giving up the sport to start their family. She now drives their corporate shooting company, Go Shooting.

“She gave up her career to have our family, but the family is so much more important. A lot of people lose sight of that,’’ Mark said.

“When you start, the last thing you think about when starting your career is making the Sport Australia Hall of Fame because you think you’ll go forever.

“Once you retire you get caught up in life and sport becomes a small part of it. It’s not until accolades like this where you get a chance to reflect.”