Olympic shooter Mary Tucker says ‘anyone can do this sport’

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Recent West Virginia University graduate Mary Tucker said that she was initially “horrible” at shooting but was too “rebellious” to give it up.

In a recent interview with NBC, Tucker, a 22-year-old who medaled in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and has already qualified for Paris in 2024, said that shooting is a sport that anyone can enjoy.

“You don’t even have to have attention. I have horrible attention. As long as you can focus for five seconds, you’re good. You can do it,” Tucker told NBC.

In fact, Tucker said that when she first started shooting as a teen, she wasn’t good and only kept going because people telling her she wasn’t good enough motivated her to get better—and get better she did.

“I was horrible at it. People were like, ‘you should probably do something else,’ and I was like ‘no, because you told me to do something else, so I’m going to do this.'”

Tucker said that that snowballed into her getting better, making the national team, and then making the Olympic team. In fact, Tucker said when she made her first nationals in high school, she didn’t even know that rifle shooting was an NCAA or Olympic sport.

Now, as a repeat Olympian in 2024 with no one doubting her ability, Tucker said she has really been able to develop and find fun in her sport ahead of Paris.

Tucker got a silver medal in Tokyo in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event and placed top 15 in two individual rifle events. She will compete between Saturday, July 27 and Monday, Aug. 5 at the Olympics in Paris.

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