MSU Rifle Great Ivan Roe Finishes Summer Olympics Appearance

7/19/2024 3:08:00 PM | General, Rifle

Ivan Roe competed for Murray State from 2014-17 and qualified for three events in the 2024 games

Update
Here's an update on Murray State's Ivan Roe's at the Summer Olympics being held in Paris, France.

His first event was in the mixed team air rifle competition where he and his team placed 18th. Roe's second event was in the 10M air rifle event (July 29) where he posted a 34th place finish.and in the 50m smallbore event, Roe placed 20th.

Congratulations to Ivan Roe for qualifying for the Summer Olympics as the first Racer to do it since Morgan Hicks in 20024.

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Murray State rifle alumni, Ivan Roe, is with Team USA for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

After three tries, Roe earned a position on Team USA by winning both smallbore and air rifle competitions in the trials in a field of 77 competitors.

Roe currently serves as a Sargent in the US Army and has been on training full time after receiving a direct appointment to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit after completing Infantry One Station Unit Training at the then-called Fort Benning, Georgia in July 2019 (which is now called Fort Moore).

After starting his career as a teen in BB gun competition, Roe remarked he enjoyed winning and at a particular time and event, his coach Eric Yeager, mentioned that Murray State head coach Alan Lollar wanted to speak to him.

That's how Roe got on Coach Lollar's radar.

"Truly, I just liked the way he performed and carried himself," Lollar said "He was very methodical and you could tell he was thinking and working hard. He was that way as a student too. I always told him that everything you do in competition has a reason and it doesn't matter what you do as long as it works and those thoughts have served him well. Now he's one of the best smallbore and air gun shooters in the world. I am just tickled to death that he's getting this chance because nobody has worked harder. if he follows his match plan and his shot plan, he'll make some noise."

The list of sports that require the amount of thought and composure are few compared to shooting and it's the mental part that Roe has mastered.

"I didn't pay as much attention to the mental aspect of shooting in high school and at Murray State," Roe stated. "I've worked since then with a sports psychologist and I've learned how to have a positive mindset. Thoughts that I know I can do this and I belong here. The mental challenge is really just coming up with that plan and trusting in it and just falling back on it."

As much as Roe enjoyed competing for Murray State, now he's experiencing the thrill wearing the red, white and blue of Team USA.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don't think anything I've done is going to come close to this," Roe said. "It's going to be extremely emotional when I get over to France. I hope that all the training I have done is enough. My goal up until this point has always been to
make an Olympic team. Now I have to come up with a new goal. Obviously, I would like to win a medal.

What does it mean to be a Murray State Racer?

"Being a Racer means so much. I always tell people that if I had the chance to try again, I'd still pick Murray State University over any school in the country," Roe said. "I would go back to Murray in a heartbeat because there was nowhere else I'd really want to go.

Roe will make his Olympic debut in Paris on July 27, the day after Opening Ceremonies in the Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle event, one of the 14 sporting events on the first day of the Games.

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