Tye Ikeda and Michele Esercitato make up two-thirds of nation’s three-athlete firing squad at Paris Olympics
Team Canada is basically Team Calgary at the Olympic shooting venue of the 2024 Paris Games.
Calgarians Tye Ikeda and Michele Esercitato make up two-thirds of the three-athlete firing squad representing the country at the National Shooting Centre in Châteauroux, France.
And they are feeling the love from back home at the Calgary Rifle & Pistol Club.
“I hope I can live up to your expectations,” said 22-year-old Esercitato, when asked to address the community back home just hours before the start of the Summer Olympiad.
“Without question, it’s the community where I feel the most support from,” continued Esercitato. “That support has been invaluable. It’s priceless support — mostly their support that got me here.
“And there’s the national team — the coaches, the staff and my fellow athletes. All that got me here.”
Ikeda feels the same way about home, although it was at his actual house where he found the biggest driving force in getting him to these Games.
His mother pointed him in the direction of the five-ring circus.
“It wasn’t my goal to be here,” said the 27-year-old Ikeda, also a member of the Calgary Rifle & Pistol Club. “It was my mom’s. She was always quite vocal about that.
“She’s super happy I’m here,” continued Ikeda. “Both her and my dad were fairly athletic growing up, and my mom was super a competitive road rider at one point. So these dreams were her goals back in the day, and I think she’s living vicariously through me now.”
She’ll be there with Ikeda’s dad for their kid’s Olympic debut, as will Esercitato’s parents for his first time at the Games.
Ontario’s Sandra Westlake, also a first-time Olympian, is the other member shooting for Canada. The 38-year-old is participating in the women’s 50m rifle three positions event in Paris.
The younger Calgarian steps in first to compete — that is early on Day 1 Saturday, taking part in qualification round of the men’s 10-metre air pistol event (2:30 a.m.). Of course, Esercitato’s aim is to capture a spot in the final Sunday (1:30 a.m.).
At the 2023 ISSF World Championships, the Calgarian was 95th in the same discipline.
“Doing the best I can is my main objective,” said Esercitato, of the upcoming week. “Just giving it my all.
“I never thought I’d be here — not at all,” continued the native of Italy. “It was simply a hobby for me at the start. My dad got me into shooting, when I first moved to Calgary. We visited our local range, and they advertised a junior program, so we tried it out, and I found it fun. So I kept going with it, participated in a few local competitions, and as time went on, I got pulled into the more national competitions, which comes with the national team.
“And as fellow athletes just encouraged me further, the competitive scene brought me here.”
Ikeda is there to participate in the men’s 50-metre rifle three positions event, which opens with qualification early Wednesday (1 a.m.). The final then runs Thursday, Aug. 1 (1:30 a.m.).
“My goal is to finish the match, at this point,” Ikeda said. “Shoot as best I can and, hopefully, not blow up emotionally during the match. And even if I do, just make a recovery and shoot as best as I can.
“The actual match itself is my favourite part. I like the match pressure, when the referee says, ‘Go.’ Nothing really compares to that.”
Ikeda earned silver in the same discipline at the 2024 Continental Championships of the Americas, with his performance earning this Olympic spot for Canada. Ikeda then won that spot for himself at the team selection trials in late May.
“I’m feeling just pure excitement right now,” Ikeda said. “I never thought that I’d get here this quickly.
“It’s just pure obsession that got me here, at this point,” continued Ikeda. “I’ve been shooting things since I was fairly young. About five-ish years ago, I started competing — just to try it out — and I developed an obsession from there.
“Even if I’m sitting at work, I’m just looking forward to going to the range afterwards and practising. And when I’m at the range, I think to myself that there’s no other place I’d rather be. I’ve never been to a training session I didn’t enjoy.”
And both he and Esercitato have been doing most of their training at the Calgary Rifle & Pistol Club.
“If any of you want to get into shooting, go to the Calgary Rifle & Pistol Club,” added Ikeda. “We have two Olympians here this year. And the last two Olympics, we had one person — Linda Kiejko — each in Tokyo and Rio, and Lynda made up the entire Canadian Olympic team for those two cycles.”