How to build an Olympian

AShooting Journal ^ | 5/26/2016 | Dana Farrell

[w1n1]

Fourteen-year-old Lance Thompson of Carlisle, Pa., has spent the last several years of his life with one goal in mind – competing in the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo.

As an Olympic trapshooting hopeful and honor student, Thompson maintains an intense, disciplined schedule that includes shooting up to four days a week during the school year and living full time at a training center during the summer. This arrangement allows him to train every day when school’s out. While living at the training center he stays with one of the team members, a 25-year-old female shooter, in an efficiency apartment 100 yards from the range. This summer marks his third season living at the center.

Lance found his calling in a roundabout way when his dad enrolled him in an NRA shotgun class at their local gun club. Although he was only 9 years old at the time, Lance was big for his age and the instructor made an exception. He allowed him to participate in a class that normally required a minimum age of 12. Now, 6 feet tall and 160 pounds, Lance says that even at age 9, he was one of the best shooters in the class. Read the rest of the story here.

[Carthego delenda est]

“Thompson maintains an intense, disciplined schedule that includes shooting up to four days a week during the school year and living full time at a training center during the summer.”

Practice, practice, and then more practice.

[T-Bird45]

I can’t begin to fathom the hoops and hassles ahead for USA Shooting when getting their firearms into Japan for the competition. I wish the young man the best and hope his mental game is sharp enough to withstand the bureaucratic challenges ahead. Those distractions could take him off his game.