CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A National Champion shooter at West Virginia University will make a second attempt at shooting for gold in the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.
Mary Tucker, who spent her last two seasons of NCAA Rifle in Morgantown, will shoot the smallbore, air rifle, and mixed team events at the Paris games. It’s Tucker’s second Olympics. She qualified for all three events in Tokyo as well.
“I had a lot more experience in air rifle at the time, so I came away from Tokyo feeling like I shot very well. I set a national record in air rifle qualification and I got sixth in the final. It was a very high final, so I was totally happy with that even though my goal was a medal,” she said.
Although she and her partner took silver in the mixed-team event that year, she didn’t have as much experience in smallbore at the time. She believed after Tokyo she had room to grow in the smallbore event. Since then, the growth is evident. Tucker was the NCAA smallbore champion in 2023-24. She said the training for the two disciplines is very different.
“There is a big difference and a lot of people pick one or the other so there are a lot of specialists. But I really like having both, because I feel like it gives me a lot more opportunity to spice up my training and do different things and gives me a lot more creativity,” she explained.
Tucker said training for this Olympic games has been quite different in her level of preparation overall.
“I’ve prioritized my physical and mental health a lot more and I have a very experienced coach who has won many medals of his own, so he’s sharing a lot of information with me, especially in smallbore,” she explained.
Her personal coach is former Olympian and Alaska-Fairbanks shooter Matt Emmons. Emmons won a gold medal in the 2004 games in Athens, a silver in 2008 in Beijing, and a bronze medal in the 2020 games in London.
Headed into her second Olympics, Tucker believes she’ll be able to nullify the distractions which can overwhelm a first timer.
“There are so many things that surround the Olympics away from actually doing the sport. When you haven’t been to it before, you’re not really prepared for all of the media and all of the photos and having to follow a lot of rules. Now that I’ve experienced all of that there’s a lot less stress and I can put a lot of my focus on the actual shooting.”
Tucker is a native of Sarasota, Florida. She started her college shooting career at the University of Kentucky, but entered the transfer portal her senior year and landed at WVU. She got the additional covid year of eligibility and spent it in Morgantown as well. Although a previous rival of most of her WVU teammates, she was grateful for the change.
“West Virginia Rifle definitely changed and saved my life,” she said. “I am so grateful for Jon (Hammond) and the program and school for taking a chance on me. It was difficult circumstances and I give a lot of credit to the team and Jon for taking me in and accepting me. I’m definitely forever grateful for the program.”
The rifle events are the first of the games and start on July 27th with the air rifle competition.