WILLETT James

General
HOME SHOOTING RANGE
Before the initial lockdown in Australia in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his father Arthur finished construction on an Olympic-standard skeet and trap clay target range costing $250,000 Australian dollars. The range is called Shelford Shooting, and includes 15 clay target machines inside a twenty-metre bunker. "I'm one of the lucky ones who can still train. Once COVID hit, it's sort of paid off a lot more. I have been able to train when pretty much all the clubs were closed around the country. It's set up maybe 100 or so metres from the house on the farm. It's not that far out at all. I'm shooting a couple of days a week at the moment but, leading into big competitions, I can shoot up to seven days a week if I want." His plan was to eventually invite other Olympic team members to train at his place, and the range is also open for public bookings. (smh.com.au, 25 May 2020; abc.net.au, 21 Apr 2020; Facebook Profile, 08 Sep 2020; riverineherald.com.au, 21 Apr 2020)

FOCUSING ON TRAP
After the double trap event was removed from the Olympic programme following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he switched focus to trap shooting in 2017/18. "The transition from double trap to trap is going well. Last year [2018] spending some time in Italy competing on a regular basis with some great shooters really helped me build some consistency in the new event. I am aiming to build [my ranking] up to where I was in double trap - to number one." (yarrawongachronicle.com.au, 06 Feb 2019; shootingaustralia.org, 08 May 2020; jameswillett.com.au, 07 Feb 2018)

LEARNING FROM RIO
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro he qualified equal-first for the final of the men's double trap with an Olympic record of 140. But after hitting his first 13 shots in the final, he missed two from four and went from gold medal contention to a sudden death shootout for bronze, where he was knocked out to finish fifth overall. "I just missed. There was nothing really to blame, just me. Conditions were tough but [I] wasn't [quite good] enough to get in the gold medal match so not much I could do about it. I'm pretty happy with my first Olympics [at] 20 years old, it was a great experience, I missed out on the medals but I will take it home and work on it for Tokyo. It's a big mental side of the sport I will take from here." (theleader.com.au, 11 Aug 2016; smh.com.au, 11 Aug 2016)

MIXED TRAP EVENT
In addition to his individual event, he also aimed to compete in the mixed trap event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, alongside Laetisha Scanlan after the pair won the world championship title in 2019. "The targets are the same but it's a little bit different because, if you miss, it doesn't just hurt you, it hurts your partner as well, so the pressure is a bit different. But it's the event that has replaced the double trap at the Olympic Games and it's a very important event, because the medal is the same as the individual medal." (triplem.com.au, July 16 2019)

FAMILY SPORT
His family have a sheep and grain farm in Mulwala, NSW, Australia. His father, Arthur Willett, won the 1986 Field and Game Interschool Shooting competition at Benalla, VIC, Australia. In 2011 James won the same event, making them the first father-son names to be etched on the trophy. Competing together, the pair won the 2014 National Family Deauville Doubles competition, held by the Australian Clay Target Association. "It was pretty great to be out there with dad, he's supported me by driving me around, helping me financially and such, so to shoot with him and get the win was pretty amazing. We shot 125 out of 125 pairs, which was a real thrill." (bordermail.com.au, 19 Feb 2015; bordermail.com.au, 20 Feb 2014; pressreader.com, 20 Mar 2013)

He equalled the world record in men's trap at the World Cup event in Acapulco, Mexico, in March 2019, when he shot a perfect qualifying round of 125/125, becoming the second Australian trap shooter, after Michael Diamond, to achieve the score. (smh.com.au, 25 May 2020; shootingaustralia.org, 08 May 2020; olympics.com.au, 21 Mar 2019)

At age 20 at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro he was the youngest competitor in the men's double trap. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Apr 2020; theleader.com.au, 11 Aug 2016)