Ageless Susan Nattrass goes into the Pan Am Games taking aim at perfection

The seemingly endless list of accomplishments, both in her athletic field and beyond, is simply stunning. But, for Susan Nattrass, Canada’s ageless trapshooting standout, the desire to compete and succeed hasn’t waned in the slightest.

Armed with the experience of appearing in six Olympic Games, winning seven world titles, 14 world championship medals, and the honour of being selected as her country’s flag bearer for the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro (where she struck gold), Nattrass is one of Canada’s most decorated athletes.

Yet, at age 64, Nattrass is still taking aim at competing at the highest level, and is as dedicated to her craft as she’s ever been. “I love the challenge,” started Nattrass, minutes before she boarded a plane from Seattle (near her home) to Toronto and the Pan Am Games. “Being the best you can be, seeking that perfect score, it still drives me. And, if everything goes well, and you succeed, it really is the best feeling in the world.”

The native of Medicine Hat, Alta., who began competing internationally in 1969 in women’s trapshooting, has also made her mark as a champion of equal rights for her sport.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics, Nattrass became the first-ever woman to participate in the trapshooting event. At that time, shotgun shooting in the Olympics was open to both sexes until after the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Leading up to the 1992 Summer Games, the IOC made the decision to make trap and skeet exclusive to men only and introduced double trap for women and men beginning at the 1996 Olympics. From 1992 to 1997, Nattrass worked tirelessly for the inclusion of separate women’s events in the shotgun events, eventually leading to the women’s trap and skeet events inclusion into the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

“I worked very hard for five years to see women get the rights they deserved,” said Nattrass, the Lou Marsh Award recipient as Canada’s athlete of the year in 1981. “Certainly, you are proud of the accomplishments and big moments – being inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, being an Officer of the Order of Canada, meeting the Queen – but to see those changes come to the sport, it’s extremely meaningful to me.”

Not that Nattrass, who has become a well-regarded coach and mentor, is the type to rest on her laurels. Far from it, in fact.

Her competition and teammates will be younger at the Pan Ams, but it’s readily apparent, in words and tone, that Nattrass is locked and loaded.

“This is my 46th year competing for Canada,” she proudly noted. “I’ve definitely had to adapt to things over time. When I was young, I had phenomenal vision. I’ve been working with a sports vision group in Burnaby (BC) to get my eyes in shape. Some days, when it’s cloudy, the orange target looks likes it is the size of an aspirin. On a bright day, it looks like a watermelon. But, I can tell you that I am really prepared and really excited for this opportunity.”

The shooting competition begins on July 12 in Innisfil, north of Toronto, at the Pan Am Shooting Centre and will finish on July 19.