There is a fantasy for some about taking a trip to Paris. The storytelling of the romanticism of the French capital is well documented, a bucket list destination for many.
The Olympic Games are coming to Paris next summer, and for many athletes, it will be a chance to cross that trip off the bucket list. Katelyn Foust won’t strike the red line through ‘Paris, 2024’, but the opportunity to be in that position is a dream enough.
A 2021 Fairfield High School graduate, the former Katelyn Tinsley has been on an Olympic track for quite some time. Going back to her middle school days, Foust has been a sharpshooter and her abilities in riflery not only had her performing well with her club in Fort Wayne, but positioning herself to take a run at an Olympic bid. Having already had the experience of going through qualifications for the Olympics before, Foust was prepared for a second stab at it.
“The process changes every Olympic cycle so you really have to go with the flow and just shoot,” said Foust, having just finished fall semester finals at the University of Mississippi. “It was definitely different from what I had known before, but I’m nearing the end of my career, so that’s normal. I had gone to Olympic qualifiers for the 2020 games when I was in high school, but then I was more focused on getting recruited for college than actually making the Olympic games. This time, it felt a lot smaller and intense. Some of that comes with being in college and representing your school, but I think that match was just really challenging mentally.”
Foust has been a player in shooting sports since club, moving into a more rigorous training schedule as a high schooler. As part of two disciplines in the sport, 10-meter air rifle and 3-position smallbore. To briefly explain, air rifle is done in a standing position shooting approximately 60 small pellet shots in 15 minutes. Targets are 10 meters away and the precision of the shot is the difference, where targets are in a 10-ring format, but comprised of mini rings to make scoring very difficult. Smallbore is a .22 caliber rifle done at 50 feet distance, performed in either kneeling, prone or standing positions.
As Foust became proficient in both, so did her exposure in national tournaments and clinics.
The Ole Miss junior has become one of the top shooters for the program, appearing in 11 matches as a sophomore and averaging 1154.2 aggregate, which was a career-high a year ago. Her 585 score at the NCAA Qualifiers sent Ole Miss to the NCAA Nationals for the third straight year. Foust is also getting the job done in the classroom, earning a pair of Southeastern Conference Honor Roll merits as well as CRCA Scholastic All-American honors two years running.
How one gets from Elkhart County to the middle of the delta at with the University of Mississippi riflery team really just became a matter of her pursuits all lining up.
“Ole Miss is the only school with shooting as a Division I sport that offers those programs and the Intelligence and Security Studies program has a 99-percent job placement rate,” said Foust, who is majoring in Criminal Justice with a Homeland Security emphasis with minors in ISS and law.
“When I miss home, I have to remind myself of the long-term benefits. That being said, family and my community were a huge part of my success in high school, so it’s been an adjustment not having that support physically with me.”
But back to the Olympic talk. The shooting chops are there for Foust, but there’s also an issue that will take her out of any possible trip to Paris next summer. Injuries.
“Right now I’m actually in the recovery portion of my training,” noted Foust, who had to bow out of the last round of qualifications because of complications with scoliosis. “I’ve been in intense physical therapy 3-5 days a week for the past eight weeks, but I get to start training again on January 8th. Taking time to recover and think of my body in the long run has been incredibly difficult, but I’ve gotten to take a step back and encourage my teammates more while they also make a push for the Olympics. I’ve learned more about myself and my values and goals during this injury, so as terrible as it’s felt, I have had to learn how to be a better athlete and a better teammate when I can’t physically be behind a rifle.”
Foust continued, “It’s given me extra time to work on some research I had pushed to the back burner as well. I’m in the Honors College here at Ole Miss and in order to graduate as a scholar with that program, I have to complete and defend a thesis next spring. Taking the time to care for my body has allowed me to start some of that intense research, so that’s up and coming as well.”
Photo courtesy Josh McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics