Legendary shotgun shooter Russell Mark, who had won gold in Men’s Double Trap at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and followed it up with a silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is likely to be the new trap coach of the Indian shooting team while his wife Lauryn, who is a two-time Olympian and three times Commonwealth Games gold medallist, is likely to be appointed as the High Performance Manager for Indian shotgun.
Speaking exclusively to indianshooting.com, Russell Mark said, “I cant comment about the finer details, but I guess it is safe to say I have agreed in principle to join the Indian team as the trap coach and Lauryn as the High Performance Manager for shotgun once those finer details are sorted between the NRAI and the SAI. As to when that happens is between them.”
It’s been learnt that they have been offered contracts till the 2024 Paris Olympics with a provision for annual assessment of their coaching performance. As part of their negotiations with the NRAI they have agreed to travel back and forth to Australia several times throughout the year when the Indian Team is out of competition or when they are in rest periods from intense training. Lauryn will be working closely with the NRAI and the Sports Authority of India to develop long term training and competition programs to continue beyond the next Olympic Games. The SAI has noted that her appointment will be seen as a great step forward in gender equality in sports administration and management here in India.
It’s said that Russell, who guided former Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore to the Double Trap silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics, could be a big catch for the NRAI. Apart from the gold and silver medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, Russell also won gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. He has participated at six Olympics from 1998 to 2012, missing only the 2004 edition where he helped Rathore to win India’s first ever individual Olympic silver.