LEONGATHA skeet shooter Aislin Jones is excited to be announced as one of ten shooters to join the Australian Olympic Team in Paris at a ceremony at the Victorian Institute of Sport last Thursday.
It will be Jones's second Olympics after competing in Rio in 2016, however, this year will see her competing in both the Individual Skeet and the new Mixed Skeet Team event with Sydney-based teammate Josh Bell.
Aislin has competed in an exhausting round of international and Australian events since winning a quota spot five months ago. As the outright winner of the selection series that took place at events in Brisbane, Sydney, Lilydale, Qatar and Azerbaijan Jones secured her selection to the team.
In addition to the individual events that secured selection, Jones and Bell won the bronze medal at the Baku World Cup Mixed Skeet teams event and finished just two targets from the finals in the Lonato (ITA) World Cup in June.
Aislin’s individual performances in international events this year resulted in her being the only Australian in women's skeet to make the ISSF World Rankings and positioned her well into the top half of the field of 125 women holding ranking points for the Olympics.
Jones won three of the four Australian selection events, including her seventh National Championship.
“It’s been stressful five months but I’m really pleased that all of the work I’ve put in over the last four years has come to this,” said Jones.
"I'm incredibly excited and proud to have made my second Australian Olympic Team! It's been a journey to get here but I've got my ticket and we're headed to Paris!"
And whilst Jones is elated to be competing in the individual women's skeet events on August 3 and 4, Australia is fortunate to have quotas in both men's and women's skeet.
"This means we are also able to compete in the Mixed Teams event on August 5th."
As a result, Australians will have double the opportunity to cheer Jones on. Just 16 of the 34 nations, who qualified athletes in the individual events, have both an individual men’s and women’s event competitor qualified, a requirement to contest the teams event.
Jones and Bell have both been in the Australian team for some years and have competed together several times.
Asked if she would be trying to repeat her bronze medal result in Baku Jones said, “A medal of any colour would be nice but it’s not like swimming where you can look across a lane and realise you have to go a bit harder. We have to put the best score on the board that we can on the day and hope that it’s better than everyone else's.
"There’s a lot that can come into play being an outdoor sport. We’ll both be doing the best we can in individual and teams.”
When at home Jones is not only a familiar sight training on the range at the Korumburra Gun Club but also a regular runner along the Koonwarra rail trail with dog Ted.
“I run to maintain my general fitness, but I like to challenge myself to see what I’m capable of. I set myself a goal a while back to run a marathon this year. I really wanted it to be the Marathon Pour Tous. It’s being run on the actual Olympic course at night with Paris landmarks all lit up, between the Men’s and Women’s marathons. It’s capped entry and equal participation so I was very lucky to be granted a place in it as a Rio Olympian. It won’t be easy but I’m sure it will be spectacular and something I’ll never forget.” says Jones.
"I’ve also been included in the Australian Athlete Fund’s Million Dollar Challenge powered by Ampol. Started by Beach Volleyball medalist Natalie Cook, they are helping athletes like me afford to compete at this level. To everybody who has supported me on this journey, thank you, I couldn't do this without you."
Aislin’s fundraising to compensate for her unpaid leave from work and official expenses continues at https://tinyurl.com/AislinParis2024.
