Friday, August 31, 2012 8:08:08 PM
Paralympic Shooter’s Goal: More Soldiers Competing
May 17, 2012, 10:21 am Comment
By MARY PILON
DALLAS — If Iraq veteran Josh Olson has his way, by the next Paralympic Games, there will be 23 more versions of him.
Sgt. First Class Olson, who will compete in air rifle shooting in London this summer, is helping lead a new initiative to introduce disabled members of the military to the Paralympic movement.
Despite the tens of thousands of wounded veterans who have returned home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States has still lagged behind its international competitors in Paralympic shooting, Olson said.
Starting this fall, Olson will lead 24 wounded soldiers in an elite marksmanship unit, much like the one he currently trains with in Fort Benning, Ga.
Olson began basic training in 1997 and served tours in Kosovo and later in Iraq. It was there in 2003 that he was involved in an ambush that blew off one of his legs. “I took the entire blast right in my thigh,” Olson said, gesturing to where his leg would be.
After losing his leg, Olson spent 18 months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He had to retrain himself to walk (either on crutches or using a prosthesis), drive and get around a household.
“A lot of people take going to the mall for granted,” Olson said. “But when you get a guy on a prosthesis for the first time or a guy who is on crutches or in a wheelchair, going to the mall is a totally different experience.”
It was at Walter Reed that Olson participated in a shooting event. As a soldier, he trained with human-sized targets, but had never had to nail a target smaller than a dime, as required in international shooting. He hit 49 of his first 50 shots. “I had no clue I was able to do that,” Olson said.
The United States will only send two competitors in a field of 15 to 20 (depending on trials) that will compete in the Paralympics.
The gap may have something to do with shooting style, Olson said. While most countries use only the international style of shooting, U.S. shooters use dozens of different styles: long-range, short-range, pistol, shotgun and others.
“Every little town in Germany has a range in it,” Olson said. “Here in the U.S., it’s harder to find a range you can train for international competitions in.”
International shooting is more focused on precision and repetition. “A lot of people compare it to golf,” Olson said.
The team will have 24 soldiers, 12 shooters and 12 instructors and when those instructors aren’t teaching, they’ll be competing, Olson said.
“In soldiers you have everything you want in an athlete,” Olson said. “You have discipline, you have fitness you have mental toughness and they can handle stressful situations.”
Focusing on a sport can also have healing benefits for soldiers coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, Olson said.
“You give them something to keep them occupied,” he said. “Something to work for, something to work on, I think it’s one of the best therapy things for them. Maybe if it’s not shooting, maybe it’s picking up a basketball or running, something to get all that energy out.”
Olson said he trains four to six hours a day, five to six days a week, sometimes more, a regime he will maintain as he heads toward the Games in London.
“I got knocked down once,” he said. “But I’m not out.”
http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/paralympic-shooters-goal-more-soldiers-competing/
May 17, 2012, 10:21 am Comment
By MARY PILON
DALLAS — If Iraq veteran Josh Olson has his way, by the next Paralympic Games, there will be 23 more versions of him.
Sgt. First Class Olson, who will compete in air rifle shooting in London this summer, is helping lead a new initiative to introduce disabled members of the military to the Paralympic movement.
Despite the tens of thousands of wounded veterans who have returned home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States has still lagged behind its international competitors in Paralympic shooting, Olson said.
Starting this fall, Olson will lead 24 wounded soldiers in an elite marksmanship unit, much like the one he currently trains with in Fort Benning, Ga.
Olson began basic training in 1997 and served tours in Kosovo and later in Iraq. It was there in 2003 that he was involved in an ambush that blew off one of his legs. “I took the entire blast right in my thigh,” Olson said, gesturing to where his leg would be.
After losing his leg, Olson spent 18 months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He had to retrain himself to walk (either on crutches or using a prosthesis), drive and get around a household.
“A lot of people take going to the mall for granted,” Olson said. “But when you get a guy on a prosthesis for the first time or a guy who is on crutches or in a wheelchair, going to the mall is a totally different experience.”
It was at Walter Reed that Olson participated in a shooting event. As a soldier, he trained with human-sized targets, but had never had to nail a target smaller than a dime, as required in international shooting. He hit 49 of his first 50 shots. “I had no clue I was able to do that,” Olson said.
The United States will only send two competitors in a field of 15 to 20 (depending on trials) that will compete in the Paralympics.
The gap may have something to do with shooting style, Olson said. While most countries use only the international style of shooting, U.S. shooters use dozens of different styles: long-range, short-range, pistol, shotgun and others.
“Every little town in Germany has a range in it,” Olson said. “Here in the U.S., it’s harder to find a range you can train for international competitions in.”
International shooting is more focused on precision and repetition. “A lot of people compare it to golf,” Olson said.
The team will have 24 soldiers, 12 shooters and 12 instructors and when those instructors aren’t teaching, they’ll be competing, Olson said.
“In soldiers you have everything you want in an athlete,” Olson said. “You have discipline, you have fitness you have mental toughness and they can handle stressful situations.”
Focusing on a sport can also have healing benefits for soldiers coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, Olson said.
“You give them something to keep them occupied,” he said. “Something to work for, something to work on, I think it’s one of the best therapy things for them. Maybe if it’s not shooting, maybe it’s picking up a basketball or running, something to get all that energy out.”
Olson said he trains four to six hours a day, five to six days a week, sometimes more, a regime he will maintain as he heads toward the Games in London.
“I got knocked down once,” he said. “But I’m not out.”
http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/paralympic-shooters-goal-more-soldiers-competing/
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
