As Rio-bound Olympic shooter Jennifer Hens tells it “the opportunity awaits”.
The Mt Riverview native, who has been training as a shooter since she was a 15-year-old at Blaxland High School, was delighted to hear she had made the shooting team bound for the next Olympic Games, and thinks getting a medal isn’t unrealistic.
“It feels absolutely sensational and a little bit unreal,” Hens said.
“I could not be happier to wear green and gold and represent the people who have worked hard and supported me along the way.
“I have the technique to get it right on the day and anything can happen at the Olympics, so yes they [my competitors] should be worried,” she added.
By a long shot, it’s the 29-year-old’s career highlight, which has also included representing Australia in the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 where she placed tenth. She set a personal best with an Australian women's air rifle record in the Munich IWK Air rifle competition in January last year and finished up the year winning her first Oceania Championship. She is now working hard to “not focus on chance, but on the hard work that got me there [to Olympic selection]”.
Hens will compete in the 10m women’s air rifle, an event that involves shooting 40 shots in a 50 minute match at a computer target.
“Each shot equates to less than a tenth of a millimeter of accuracy to the center point of a target. So, every shooter wants to hit a 10.9 because this is the most accurate shot we can make. Only eight shooters with the highest score will go into the finals. And then each shot must be competed within times as short as 50 seconds. This is very hard, especially when the adrenaline kicks in.”
Hens now lives in Germany with boyfriend, Stefan Rumpler, also an air rifle shooter who shoots on the Austrian national team. She said while Stefan may not make Olympic selection, they hope his brother Gernot will make it to Rio.
The 2010 Western Sydney University graduate juggles a full-time job as a science teacher at an English school with her “routined” preparation for Rio.
“It’s hard work but rewarding [and] definitely keeps me busy. When I finish work, I either go to the range to train or complete physical exercises. The weekend is rarely an exception, but I love what I do, so the rewards I take from it are incomparable.”
Hens equates the training she picked up while at the Springwood Smallbore and Air Rifle club with her Dad, Rene, as critical.
“I was taught by the club members to enjoy the experience, even in an up or down moment. There is always the exciting challenge to pursue a perfect shot.”
And as much as she misses home, Hens will stay to continue competing in the northern hemisphere while she prepares for the games.
“The competition opportunities here are endless and raise the bar for me every time.”
Springwood club president Laurie Tillott said the club was “very proud”.
“She’s worked hard to get where she has got. It will help promote the shooting sport.”
The Australian shooting team also includes Paul Adam, Blake Blackburn, David Chapman, Keith Ferguson, Elena Galiabovitch, William Godward, Aislin Jones, Warren Potent, Daniel Repacholi, Jack Rossiter, Dane Sampson, Laetisha Scanlan, Catherine Skinner, James Willett, Lalita Yauhleuskaya.
