SALEM, Ore. North Salem High School junior Taylor Gibson remembers watching hunting shows on television with her dad when she was 4 years old, calling it their "bonding thing."
A few years later Gibson began shooting a BB gun in the backyard.
Gibson didn’t realize it at the time, but that early introduction to hunting and BB guns set the stage for her ascent to becoming a precision shooting national champion.
She is the first back-to-back JROTC National Air Rifle champion – winning in 2017 and 2018 – and is the only person to win the event twice.
A member of the North Salem JROTC precision shooting team, Gibson will compete in the Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs on Monday and Tuesday. She has her sights set on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Gibson has taken the precision shooting world by storm and it didn’t happen by accident. Here’s a glimpse into the making of a champion.
Reluctant beginning
It wasn’t love at first sight. When Taylor's dad, Rob Gibson, learned about the junior rifle team at Four Corners Rod and Gun Club in Salem, Taylor, then a seventh grader at Parrish Middle School, didn’t want to be part of it.
“I thought it looked really boring. I didn’t wanna try it,” she said.
But after giving the sport a chance, Gibson quickly “fell in love with it.”
Still, she never thought it would amount to more than a hobby.
Immediate success
Gibson progressed at a rapid rate and was part of North Salem’s JROTC precision shooting team as an eighth grader. She set a kneeling national record in air rifle at the age of 13, competing against high school students.
Commitment
Gibson gets up at 4:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, to attend hour-long practices at North Salem beginning at 6 a.m. She also practices at Four Corners Rod and Gun Club from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
Between practices, school and competitions that take her all over the country, time management is essential.
“I’m probably the last person you’d expect to be a national champion in anything. I like to sit at home and read and drink tea and hang out with the dog and cat. I don't do a whole lot besides shoot and exercise and eat and sleep and do homework.
Essential physical attributes
Having excellent hand-eye coordination and steely nerves are key attributes in precision shooting. So is fitness. It’s not easy holding a 10-pound precision air rifle for one-to-two-hour intervals during competition.
Gibson does cardio work, core exercises, and sticks to a balanced diet that is low on sugar.
“Especially before you shoot you don’t want any sugar because it increases your blood-sugar levels and you get shaky, and that makes it harder to stay steady and be precise.”
Respecting the sport
Pellets are used in competition for targets set at 10 meters for air rifle and 50 feet for smallbore. Competitors learn at an early age that safety is of paramount importance.
During competition, participants don’t go past the fire line and everyone is considered a safety officer.
“The number one part of the sport is safety.”
Staying even keel
Gibson is not caught up in her success even though she’s a celebrity of sorts in shooting circles.
To Gibson, it’s all about reaching her own standard of excellence. She set an Army national record last year at the JROTC National Air Rifle Championships with a score 597 out of a possible 600 to win a gold medal in 3-position (standing, kneeling and prone) precision class.
Her goal is a perfect score.
“When we were in Ohio (for the JROTC nationals last month) everyone knows who she is,” Rob Gibson said. “She doesn’t pay any attention to that. But I hear kids like, ‘Hey, that’s Taylor Gibson. It’s her!’”
Finances
There is a financial commitment. In addition to travel expenses – the Army provides some assistance - Rob Gibson said there's been an investment of about $4,000 into Taylor’s air rifle, and $7,000 into her smallbore rifle.
Going through airports, even with a rifle case, can be an ordeal.
“Airlines aren’t very gentle with luggage I’ve learned,” Taylor said.
Future goals
Rifle championships have been an NCAA-sanctioned sport since 1980, with 39 colleges fielding teams and scholarship opportunities are available.
Gibson, who plans to compete in college, wants to be part of the medical field someday, She envisions a long and successful career in the sport and competing in the Tokyo Olympics is a major goal.
“Just the thought of getting to travel all the way to Japan to compete against the best in the world would be awesome.”
ghorowitz@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/ghorowitz