Brutal reality facing Aussie Olympic shooting champion

In one regard, Australian trap shooter Catherine Skinner has the perfect Olympic strike rate. She’s loaded her gun at one Games and has one gold medal to show for it.

But in another regard, she has an Olympic strike rate that reflects a brutal reality, having only reached one Games from four attempts.

Five months out from the Paris Olympics, Skinner finds herself in a familiar situation. The 34-year-old is among the cream of the world’s crop, but so strong are Australia’s leading trap shooters that whether she’ll be taking aim in Paris is mightily tough to predict.

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Skinner won Olympic gold at Rio 2016. She was also ranked in the top 10 in the world for 2023.

But the world No.1 for 2023, Penny Smith, also happens to be Australian, as does another world top-10 shooter from last year, Laetisha Scanlan.

Three exceptional Australian trap shooters are fighting for two spots.

“You’ve got to recognise that we as Australia are very fortunate with the strength of our women’s trap field,” Skinner tells Wide World of Sports.

“When you’ve got three world-class shooters, one of these top shots is always going to miss out.

“And that’s not to talk about any of the juniors that are up-and-coming; we’ve got a junior world champion in our midst [Kiara Dean], as well.

“So, you’ve really got to respect your competitors and give them the due credit of their skill, too.”

Australia has a rich history in trap shooting, which requires aiming for a clay target that’s launched from a machine.

While Michael Diamond’s legacy has been tarnished by firearm and drink-driving offences, which have dashed his hopes of competing at the Paris Olympics, he won gold at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Russel Mark won Olympic gold in double trap in 1996 and silver in 2000.

Women’s trap shooting joined the Olympic program in 2000 and an Australian won gold four years later, when Suzy Balogh triumphed in the Greek capital.

Then came Skinner’s victory at Rio 2016.

Among the many other Australians who’ve contested Olympic trap shooting are John Maxwell, Stacy Roiall and Deserie Baynes.

When asked why Australian trap shooting is so hot nowadays, Skinner acknowledges the nation’s fruitful past in the sport.

“We’ve got a long-standing history, for one, and we stand on the shoulders of giants,” Skinner says.

“So we learn from the previous generations and they’ve been able to teach us going forward … We are a community and we all do feed into each other and support each other in that journey because we’re all striving for perfection … There are instances where they’ve been running coaching clinics, but there are other times where they’ve just been the right person at the right time to give you that piece that was missing. So how much can you thank them for what they’ve done?”

Australia has secured both Paris 2024 quota places in the women’s trap shooting, but there’s still a lot to play out between now and June 24, when the Australian Olympic shooting team will be announced.

The battle for selection will continue on Saturday at Victoria’s Yarra Valley Grand Prix, where Skinner, Smith, Scanlan, Dean, Stephanie Pile and Molly Bretag will be in action.

“I think the competitiveness definitely does accelerate the depth of our field and pushes us up to a higher standard,” Skinner says.

“By having some very strong competitors here it lifts the game of everyone else.”