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

He will head 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,” he said. “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 American Games. After success at that competition, he continued to work with the team to prepare them for Olympic qualifications.  

Now, he’s coaching two athletes at the summer Games in Paris.  

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,” he said.  

Mr. Woolridge’s area of expertise is in rifle events.

He is coaching two athletes from Canada: Tye Ikeda from Calgary, Alta., and Shannon Westlake from Keswick, Ont. 

Mr. Ikeda competes in the 50-meter and 10-meter events; Ms. Westlake competes in the 50-meter rifle event.

Both 50-meter events require athletes to shoot at a small target from three positions: kneeling, prone and standing.  

The diameter of the target is approximately 155 millimeters. The centre, where the athletes are aiming, measures 10.4 millimeters.
“About the size of the fingernail on my pinkie,” he said. “The best in the world will hit that fingernail-sized target pretty close to 50 times out of 60.”  

Shooting requires immense skill and fine motor control. Athletes must freely hold the rifle in place when shooting from all three positions.  

“They do this with the development of endurance in very small muscles that most of us don’t even know we have,” Mr. Woolridge said.  

Athletes also do not use scopes in the 50-meter events. Instead, rifles are equipped with peep sights that help with aim but do not provide any magnification.  

Qualifying for gold

In the qualifying events, Mr. Ikeda and Ms. Westlake will aim to finish in the top eight to move on to the finals for a chance at a medal. 

Mr. Ikeda will compete in the qualifying round of the men’s 10-meter air rifle event on July 28. The finals are scheduled for July 29. 

Next is the 50-meter rifle 3 position men’s qualification on July 31. The top eight from this event will compete for medals on Aug. 1.  

Finally, Ms. Westlake will compete in the 50-meter rifle 3 positions women’s qualification on Aug. 1. The final for this competition is Aug. 2.  

Live coverage of the events and replays are available for free streaming on CBC Gem.