World No. 2 chases elusive prize at Paris

Competing at his third successive Olympic Games later this month, Mulwala-Corowa raised James Willett is in with a gold medal shot.

Growing up on a sheep and cropping farm between Corowa and Mulwala, James Willett did all the things you might expect from a young kid growing up in regional Australia.

He rode motorbikes, drove headers and sowed crops, but a love of shooting from a young age was the start of a journey that has now taken him to represent Australia at a third consecutive Olympic Games.

James Willett with wife Amy at the Olympic team announcement at the Victorian Institute of Sport.

Currently ranked number 2 in the world in the Men’s trap, James won the 2024 World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan in May, and will be using experience from his two previous Olympic campaigns to chase an elusive gold medal in Paris later this month.

“It’s a bit daunting when you first get to the Olympics … I went into Rio as world number one but ended up finishing fifth, so that obviously hurt. And then in Tokyo, we were impacted by Covid so didn’t have the opportunity to shoot at high level competitions internationally, so I was probably not match fit enough,” James said.

“I sort of know what to experience now which will be in my favour, and the scores I’ve been shooting this year will be good enough to medal … so it’s just about putting it all together,” James said.

James winning nationals in Perth in the Men's Trap at the ACTA ISSF National Championships.

For James competing is not only about representing Australia, but also about representing his Yarrawonga-Mulwala region, where he currently works as a mature-age apprentice with Kennedy Builders, and has built a high-end gun range facility that shooters from across Australia can train at.

“Often Olympians are sort of known from where they’ve grown up or have been born, but I can still say that I live here, work locally, and am able to bring people to the town and regional areas,” he said.

“It’s not one of the high profile sports, so it’s good to be able to expose new people and young kids to the sport, and a lot of the town has supported me (in my endeavours).”