U.S. Army women’s trap shooter looks ahead after ‘mediocre’ Olympic debut

FORT MOORE, Ga. ( WRBL ) — After returning from Paris without a medal, a U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit team member and Olympic women’s trap shooter is laser-focused on what lies ahead.

Staff Sgt. Rachel Tozier placed 18th overall in a field of 30 of the best women’s trap shooters in the world at the Paris Games. Though she felt good about her skillset, Tozier said Olympic nerves got the best of her.

“I’m most disappointed in my last round of the whole match,” Tozier, who has been working toward competing at the Olympics for the past three years, said. “It wasn’t my worst round, but it was the one that kept me from shooting what I would consider a respectable score to one that was just kind of mediocre.”

Leading into the Olympics, Tozier tried to calm her nerves by treating it like any other high-level competition. Post-Paris, the Marksmanship Unit team member finds that a regrettable decision.

“This is the biggest match of our lives,” Tozier said, back at Fort Moore where she trains daily with the Marksmanship Unit. “I don’t think I put quite enough pressure on myself going into it.”

Despite performing worse than she would have liked at the Paris Games, Tozier has no plans of letting that stop her.

“I’m already back on the gun, I’m already training for the next one. … [I’m] more motivated, more driven, ready to go,” Tozier said.

She is preparing for the upcoming Shotgun National Championships in Hillsdale, Mich. which begin on Sept. 9. Tozier will compete in trap shooting. She plans to use her experience at the Paris Olympics to modify her training.

“I’m disappointed with how it turned out, but still glad I got to be there,” Tozier said. She called the Olympics “an amazing experience.”

She was especially thankful for the support of her teammates, family and friends. Tozier’s husband, daughter, mom, uncle and uncle’s fiancé all came to Paris to support her. Marksmanship Unit teammates Staff Sgt. Sagen Maddalena, Sgt. Ivan Roe and Staff Sgt. William Hinton were also at the Olympics competing in various shooting events.

“It’s extremely humbling to have so many people behind you, and believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself sometimes,” Tozier said. “It’s great to have as many people supporting as I have.”

Once Tozier returns from the national championship, she will take her first break from shooting in three years to attend an Army Advanced Leader Course.

After that, she plans to return to shotgun training, with hopes of making the team for the 2028 Games in L.A.

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