Australian team member Laetisha Scanlan with James Willett pictured in Mulwala on the weekend before heading to the ISSF World Championships in Athens, Greece.
Mulwala's three-time Olympic shooter James Willett is set to compete at the ISSF World Championships in Athens, Greece, next week, marking a decade of world-class performance.
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It was ten years ago in Greece when Willett broke into the top of the world rankings at the age of 19, where he has remained since.
Competing at his first-ever World Championship, he shot a junior world record in qualifying with 142/150 targets and just missed out on bronze in a shoot-off, upstaging many of his more fancied world-class rivals.
“It’s the benchmark as events go, it's quite good to be involved again after ten years,” Willett said.
Willet grew up on a farm in Mulwala and started competitive clay shooting at the age of 14.
Introduced to the sport through school, he practised at the Corowa Clay Target Club and quickly advanced in the rankings.
At 29, Willett is entering the prime of his athletic shooting career.
Willett at his state-of-the-art shooting facility at the family farm near Mulwala.
With Australian shooting legend Russell Mark clinching Olympic gold at 32, the future looks bright for Willett's Olympic aspirations.
“I suppose I am a veteran now. It’s gone quickly, but there are always a few younger athletes coming through,” he said.
Willett said that with new equipment and technology, the level was always improving, and more shooters were employed professionally, full-time in the sport.
“It’s different to what we're facing in Australia, but the standard is still very high.”
With Olympic qualifying for Los Angeles, 2028 starting in November next year and then a home Olympics in Brisbane in 2032, representing Australia in the Olympics remains his main focus.
For Willett, life has also changed in the last 10 years.
Since opening the new state-of-the-art shooting facility at the family farm near Mulwala, he has embraced coaching and mentoring up-and-coming athletes, all while balancing a young family and pursuing a carpentry apprenticeship with Kennedy Builders.
“It's always about finding the balance in the current state with work and family and then managing such a high standard that is needed to stay at the top of this Olympic sport,” he said.
“My main goal is to build over time. World Cup events are still important internationally, but they don't carry any weight for Olympic qualification until November 2026.”
But Willett has enjoyed being home more in the past 12 months, coaching and assisting other shooters.
“I’ve enjoyed getting back to my grassroots and helping others,” he said.
“What we've built up out there at the new range is a real positive to that.
“I've been doing a few clinics around the country as well, passing on some knowledge I've been able to learn over the last 10 years, travelling internationally and learning from some of the best shooters around the world.”
Last weekend, Willett hosted a 75-target ISSF trap or Olympic trap “warm up” competition at his range before heading off to the world championships, with some of the Australian team members heading to the World Championships.
The competition was run under the same rules and process as the world championships and an Olympic event.
Willett will fly out with the Australian team on October 2, to a training camp planned in Qatar and then to Greece on October 10.
The World Championship will be held from October 15 to 19.
He thanked his loyal local sponsors for their continued support: Central Murray Bank, Cobram/Yarrawonga Toyota, Club Mulwala and Kennedy Builders.
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