Skeet shooter Therese Lundqvist's journey to the Olympics

 Skeet shooter Therese Lundqvist

‘I was born into a family where mum and dad each had their own shooting club. So I’ve spent a large part of my life on various shooting ranges,’ explains Therese Lundqvist.

Therese has memories from right back at the age of five, when she started firing airguns in the garden at home. It quickly became apparent that she had the qualities required to become a really proficient shooter, but a slightly less positive quality proved vital on her route towards the winning path of clay shooting.

‘I’ve always been a bit impatient, and this meant that I gradually made the switch from shooting pellets to clay pigeon shooting,’ she explains.

Taking aim and waiting for the right moment was never her thing, and Therese remembers that the old hands next to her often had half their shots still remaining when she had finished. Instead, her interest turned to the distinctly more action-packed arena of the clay pigeon range.

‘There, you got a real pop and could see straight away whether it was a hit or a miss!’

After much pestering, Therese was given the chance to try out firing a shotgun for the first time. The seven-year-old Therese was neither particularly tall nor strong for her age, and so dad had to help her hold the gun – but nothing more came of it.

‘The idea was that I would shoot at a clay that we had set up on the ground. When I fired the shot, I felt a pain in my shoulder that I can’t describe,’ she explains.

And she continues:

‘I was convinced that I’d dislocated my shoulder, and I swore blind that I would never shoot again.’

(Picture Svenska Skyttesportförbundet)

Debut on the national team

Gradually the desire returned, and at the age of 14 she took up the venture, with the aim being to get a place on the Swedish national skeet team. Just one year later, her dreams became reality and the prize cabinet quickly started to fill. In 2006, she took part in her first Junior European Championships, and three years later she achieved the feat of winning both the Junior European and Junior World Championship. During the Junior World Championships, she also set a new world record for junior women by shooting 74 out of 75 clays – a record that, at the time, equalled the women’s record.

‘And nobody broke that record. Some years later, a number of changes were made to the rules that meant that there were new records,’ Therese explains.

The start of the Olympic adventure

Her successes meant that she had the opportunity to travel, for example to World Cup competitions, which in turned paved the way for her Olympic experience. You can read more about that next time!