A shot at Olympic glory

It has been a long road to the Olympics for Marine Institute instructor, Dave Woolridge.

Thursday, July 25, 2024

He will be heading to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as a coach for Team Canada in Shooting.

A veteran of the sport, Mr. Woolridge began competitive shooting in 1983.

“I made two serious attempts to qualify for the Olympics in 2004 and 2008. After 2008, I transitioned from athlete to coach.”

In 2019, Mr. Woolridge was asked to work with the National Rifle Team to prepare for the Pan Am Games. After success at this competition, he continued to work with the team to prepare them for Olympic qualifications.

Now, he’ll be coaching two athletes at this summer’s Olympic Games.

Immense skill

Commencing on July 27 in Châteauroux, France, the shooting competition includes 15 events for men and women.

“Shooting is like swimming. It isn’t a single event, it is several events broadly split up into rifle, pistol and shotgun,” said Mr. Woolridge.

Mr. Woolridge’s area of expertise is in rifle events. He is coaching two athletes from Canada: Tye Ikeda from Calgary, Alberta and Shannon Westlake from Keswick, Ontario.

Read more in the Gazette.