Ivan Roe, a 7-time All American at Murray State, will be representing the United States at the Paris Olympics this summer in rifle.
Ready aim fire. Ivan Rowe has his sights set on Paris 2024 the former Murray State rifle shooter qualified for the summer Olympic Games earlier this year for the first time ever achieving a dream he's had since high school. I kind of just went out to my car because there's just a wave of emotion. Um And I just kind of sat down and just try probably for a good solid 1015 minutes because it was just, I was just so happy. I finally did it. And what he did was qualify to shoot an air rifle, mixed team air rifle and small bore events in Paris. But Roe's dream didn't happen overnight. He tried to qualify for the 2016 and 2020 games but fell short each time after graduating from Murray State in 2019, Roe enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the army's marksmanship unit where he trains nonstop in preparation for moments like this. I wake up and that's the first thing I do every morning is I just go and shoot for hours, eat lunch and then I go shoot some more. The world will be introduced. To Ivan Roe this summer in Paris. But right here at the Pat Spurgeon Rifle Range in Murray is where Rose started to make a name for himself as a shooter. He was a seven time all American at Murray State and set several records within the Murray State rifle program. So when his coach, Alan Lawlor learned that he had qualified for Paris, it really was no surprise at all. He is one of the most committed and driven people. When he gets a goal in front of him, he gets focused on that and you just expect it. Rowe will become the seventh shooter in Murray State rifle history to compete in the Olympic Games. That's, that's an honor. The Montana native doesn't take lightly. We have a history of supplying Olympians. It makes me very proud to be able to count myself among that group of very talented shooters. As for his former coach, he has no doubt that Rowe will make Murray State proud. I think he knows he belongs. And the thing that I know is there will not be a person that is more prepared for that day. He will, he will work hard, he'll be prepared to give it his best shot.
