Two NSWIS shooters named on Australian Olympic Team

The Australian Olympic Committee has officially selected the Shooting athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to be held in 2021.

James Willett (NSWIS/VIS) and Thomas Grice (NSWIS) from New South Wales will contest the Shotgun events as part of the 15 athletes named in the team.

After competing in four nomination trial events from January to March 2020, the athletes were nominated by Shooting Australia and officially selected by the AOC today.

Australia Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman welcomed the athletes to the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo.

“Congratulations to the fifteen athletes selected today to continue Australia’s rich Olympic legacy in the sport of Shooting,” Mr Chesterman said.

“This is a day to celebrate not just for the athletes selected, but their families, friends, supporters, coaches, trainers, the state and Australian Institutes of Sport and the entire Shooting community who have helped make them the athletes and people they are today.

“I also want to thank Shooting Australia for its tireless work to develop such immense talent and depth across the Olympic Shooting disciplines.”

Shooting Australia CEO Luke van Kempen paid tribute to the athletes on their Tokyo Olympic selection.

“Shooting Australia congratulates the fifteen individual athletes who have emerged from a thorough, rigorous and fair Olympic nomination process, to be selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” Mr van Kempen said.

“While we acknowledge the Olympic selection of these athletes, Shooting Australia wishes to pay tribute and congratulate all the athletes who registered Minimum Qualification Scores and contested the nomination events for the spirit in which they have competed.

“Olympic Team athletes now have the certainty of selection and they can now direct their singular focus on training and preparing for the commencement of the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. We will be working hard with them all to ensure they are in top form at the end of an extended preparation period.”

Today’s selection takes the selected Team size for Tokyo 2020 to 71 athletes.

Shooting at Tokyo will consist of Shotgun (Trap and Skeet), Pistol (10m Air, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol and 25m Sports Pistol) and Rifle (50m 3-Positions and 10m Air Rifle) events. Tokyo will also see the Olympic debut of Mixed Team events in Trap, 10m Air Pistol and 10m Air Rifle.

The Australian Olympic Committee has confirmed selected athletes shall remain members of the Australian Olympic Team to Tokyo, and athletes who have completed the entire qualification process, under the existing National Federation nomination criteria and international qualification systems, shall be nominated and selected in line with the existing policy.