The searing heat was no distraction for James Willett and Mitchell Iles who competed in the first day of the Men’s Trap event at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.
Against the world’s best, James opened competition with a perfect round of 25 out of 25 broken targets. He continued with great form, only missing his 31st target to score a total of 74 out of 75 targets.
Sharing the top of the leaderboard with Sweden’s Rickard Levin-Andersson, the humble James was reluctant to celebrate with two qualifying rounds left on Tuesday.
“I’m happy with today’s performance. I realise there is still a long way to go and another 50 targets to shoot tomorrow," he said.
"My goal is to repeat what I did, and hopefully I am well positioned to move into the final.”
In sweltering conditions with temperatures climbing to the mid 30’s James didn’t let the weather interfere with his performance.
“It was pretty warm out there today but actually perfect shooting conditions.”
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Mitchell finished day one with a score of 72 out of 75, closing out the day with a perfect 25 out of 25.
In front of the a passionate crowd of spectators, Mitchell embraced every moment of his Olympic opportunity.
“It was extremely hot out on the range today. I was happy with how I shot and I have my sights set on repeating this tomorrow.”
James and Mitchell will continue the qualification process tomorrow with the top six Men’s Trap competitors progressing through to the final.
Fellow Australian Team members Catherine Skinner and Penny Smith commence their qualification tomorrow with the first day of Women’s Trap competition.