Olympics
Vashon resident finishes sixth in trap shooting

By Blaine Newnham
Seattle Times associate editor

Susan Nattrass

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ATHENS — You meet interesting people at the Olympic Games. One of them might be your neighbor.

Susan Nattrass lives on Vashon Island and works on Beacon Hill, where she is the owner and director of the Puget Sound Osteoporosis Center.

Then there is her other life, as mother of worldwide trap shooting for women, a stylish but strident soul who in 1976 competed in her first Olympics as the only woman in a 56-person field.

Yesterday, minutes before the start of the trap final for women — the event itself a testament to her crusading — Nattrass, competing for Canada, looked over at American Collyn Loper, who looked like she might throw up.

Nattrass put her arm around Loper.

"You weren't even born when I was in my first Olympics," said Nattrass. "I'm older than your mother. Hey, listen to me, 'enjoy yourself.' "

Susan Nattrass is 53, Collyn Loper is 17.

At Montreal, Seoul and Barcelona, Nattrass shot against men on the range and then fought with them in the boardrooms, insisting that there ought to be special events in trap shooting for women.

In 2000, her dream came true. She entered the competition as one of the favorites, but finished ninth.

This time around, she had to get a special invitation from the Canadian Olympic Committee to compete.
 
"I came here to prove to the COC that it was right, that I was right. It was really important for me to do well," she said.

Through two rounds, she was in second position. Despite a bad third round, she still made the final and was just one point from third as the final began.

Her final was disastrous. She missed seven of her first 12 shots, claiming just 15 points of 25 possible. As it was, she still ended up sixth in the world. At age 53.

Australian Suzanne Balogh, 31, won the gold medal. Spain's Maria Quintanal won silver, and South Korea's Bo Na Lee took the bronze.

"I never found my spot," she said. "You find your spot and hold your focus. It wasn't smooth for me. I was in front of my shots, behind my shots, over and under them."

Loper, the American, is a high-school student from Birmingham, Ala., who is profoundly blind in one eye.

She fought for the bronze medal, losing it by a point as she missed three of her final seven shots on a very windy day.

"I looked up and saw that I had fallen to fourth," said Loper. "I could have been mad, but instead I thanked God for making the final. I'm only 17 years old."

Loper isn't sure she will compete in the Olympics again. She wants to attend Vanderbilt and then medical school.

It was a time to reflect for Nattrass.

"I'm proud of what we've accomplished," she said, "but the fight isn't finished. I'm really upset they are dropping double trap from the 2008 Olympics, and that we still shoot only 75 rounds when the men shoot 125. Their event lasts two days, ours lasts one."

Nattrass moved to Seattle eight years ago from Nova Scotia.

"I love Seattle, absolutely love it," she said.

She wants to gain dual citizenship, but will continue to shoot for Canada as long as her career, which already spans 36 years, lasts.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do," she said. "I'm really disappointed in what happened today, but the world championships are in Italy next year. And I love Italy."

In Friday night's opening ceremony, Nattrass walked in the esteemed front row of Canadian athletes. She broke into tears talking about it.

"Finally, nobody tried to push me aside," she said. "It was absolutely an honor."

Blaine Newnham: 206-464-2364 or bnewnham@seattletimes.com.