FACTOIDS
Full Name: Collyn Loper
Nickname: Collyn
Birthday: December 31, 1986
Height: 5’4"
Hometown: Birmingham, USA
Sports: Shooting
PROFILE
It takes tremendous hand-eye coordination and great instinct to be a marksman, or in Collyn Loper's case, markswoman. At the age of 17, the Birmingham, Alabama native has already accomplished more, even before her first Olympics, than most professional shooters.
Loper will participate in her first Olympic shooting competition in Athens and she seems to be way ahead of the game, not just due to her age, but because of a health-related issue that has robbed her eyesight from the right side since birth.
While most high school girls focus on dating, friends and homework, Loper beats to a different drum and has qualified to compete in the women's trap competition at the Olympics. Who would ever think that a high school girl would get involved with shotguns at a competitive level?
"People argue that girls aren't supposed to be good at shooting," Loper said. "I still have guys that tell me that in high school. 'Come to the range with me and I'll argue with you. We'll differ on this one.'"
Collyn is naturally right-handed, but being born blind in her right eye has forced her to train her body to shoot left, an obstacle that doesn't seem to have affected her shooting, or her golf game either, for that matter. She is currently in high school and will graduate in 2005.
During the school year, Loper said she tries to shoot at least once during the week and once every weekend. If she attends a competition overseas she has to take her textbooks with her to maintain her studies. She wasn't in attendance for nearly half of the junior year at Oak Mountain High School in Indian Springs, Alabama.
"I'll still have to do tests when I get back," Loper said. "It's a constant make-up. By the time I make-up all my stuff I'm gone again. It's full circle."
Born on New Year's Eve in 1986, Loper said she participated in gymnastics before becoming a teenager, but then switched to shooting. Her first amateur competition took place in Cairo, Egypt when she was 14 and she came in third place.
"That's pretty much when I knew that I wanted to start shooting," she said.
"When I was 14 I was just going off raw skill," Loper added. "I didn't have any idea what I was doing. It takes more than that. It takes a mental game and it takes knowing and experiencing things that might happen when you're over there."
Loper first started getting into shooting because of her father, Brian. Loper said she used to bet her dad five dollars each time that she could beat him in competitions and for a while it paid off.
"He had to stop that. I think one day I ran it up to thirty dollars," Loper said. "I beat him in sporting clays for the first time when I was 13. It's a funny thing."
With 20/20 vision in her left eye and around 20/900 in her right, that hasn't stopped Loper from excelling while using her Perazzi MX8, a 12-gauge shotgun in competitions. Now she figures to be one of the feel-good stories coming into these Olympics.
The U.S. women's team features shooters older than Loper, but most are in their 20's. However, Libby Callahan, who will compete in the air pistol sport event, is 50 and a two-time Olympian (1992 & 1996). Kimberly Rhode, who is 25, and Connie Smotek, who will turn 40 during the Olympics, are both also set to compete in shotgun events in Athens.
"It's funny because I've been shooting for like five years and I'm still the youngest. I'm waiting for someone to come up behind me," Loper said.
As far as medal expectations go, the sport of shooting is ranked third in total U.S. medals won, behind only track & field and swimming. But for Loper, she has a tough road to climb, as she's ranked 34th internationally in women's trap. At the top of the heap is 42-year-old E Gao of China, a bronze medalist from the 2000 Games.
It really doesn't matter where Loper finishes though. Just getting to the Olympics is a tremendous accomplishment in itself.
