By Dongyun Kwon
Two shooters from a local shooting club in Yering will represent Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Mitchell Iles and Catherine Skinner from Melbourne Gun Club have been selected for Team Australia for trap shooting.
Iles said he’s happy to grab one more chance to play for an Olympic team.
“It’s a dream for all kids but very few get to achieve it,” he said.
Iles has been training at two different clubs, Melbourne Gun Club and Werribee Victorian Clay Target Club.
He said he has been putting everything into training.
“Shooting is a very unpredictable sport,” Iles said.
“It’s better to train in two different places as opposed to shooting in one place all the time.”
Iles participated in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games at the age of 17 where he experienced a lot more pressure than other competitions.
“It’s not like going to any other competitions in terms of atmosphere, the atmosphere is very different in the Olympics. You’ve got a crowd of people watching, making a bit of noise,” he said.
“My goal for this Olympics is to bring back a medal, that’s everyone’s goal heading to the games.
“Ultimately, I will do my best and not come home with any thoughts that I didn’t try hard enough, I just want to make sure that I can come home satisfied with the effort that I put in.”
The shooter was born with shooting DNA as his grandfather Bill Iles was a world champion Down The Line (DTL) shooter.
His grandfather has coached Iles since he was 12 when he was old enough to start shooting competitions.
Iles followed his grandfather to the Melbourne Gun Club to learn shooting skill.
“My grandfather had retired from shooting by the time I started, but he was still involved in the sport,” Iles said.
“Melbourne Gun Club was the closest club and I’ve been a member there for a very long time.”
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games is also the second Olympic Games for Catherine Skinner.
“I’m very honoured and really proud to be selected for my second Olympic team,” Skinner said.
“I’m getting really nervous but also excited about what’s coming up.”
Skinner has attempted to be in an Olympic team since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but she was successful being in the team just twice out of five attempts, the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics.
“My first attempt was for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games when I was still very much an inexperienced junior and was not prepared for the process but as I grow up, I took those experiences on board and used it as continual growth,” she said.
“The following games, the London 2012, was really my first solid crack at it, however, I also found that I was outclassed by the competition because Australia has a very long and strong history in women’s trap.
“From there, I realised I had to go back and grow a bit more.”
Skinner was finally successful in making her dream come true in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games where she was able to get much more than wearing the uniform of Team Australia.
She successfully aimed her shot for the gold medal in her first Olympic Games.
The gold medalist said she hadn’t expected to win the gold medal.
“It was a big shock to realise that something I’ve really dreamed out in concept had become very real,” Skinner said.
“There’s no other way to describe it, just the excitement and the pride of what I’ve been able to do.
“But there’s also the dark side because it’s also increased my expectations ‘where do I go after I’ve hit the ceiling?’ and the answer for that is ‘go do it again’.”
After her remarkable achievement, she left shooting for a while.
“Over that period of time, my priorities had shifted too because I had graduated from university and I came to a point where I needed to have a job, so I’d step back from the sport after 2016, trying to get employed and put my engineering degree to use,” Skinner said.
“But as the selections for Tokyo came around, I could be a bit cheeky, I sneaked in for another spot, however, it didn’t work out for me.
“I needed to start my campaign a lot earlier for this [Paris Olympics] and I’m very proud to say that this one was successful.”
Like Iles, Skinner has been training in multiple clubs including Melbourne Gun Club where she is an associated member.
Skinner said it’s good to train at different places, especially for trap shooting.
“It’s not just about hitting the target but also adapting to the weather and ground conditions,’ she said.
The shooter first got into shooting through her family as her dad introduced clay target shooting to one of her older brothers who was interested in firearms.
Along with her brother, Skinner also grabbed a chance to try shooting and her family found the talent in her and supported her to take it to the next level.
Skinner said her goal for the Paris Olympics is to do the best she can.
“Unfortunately, shooting is one of those sports that you have your good days and bad days and it really doesn’t matter how you prepare to lead into it now as to whether you’re going to guarantee any results.
“I’m just going to try and hit as many of those targets as I can.”
