Russell Mark

Russell Andrew Mark, OAM (born 25 February 1964 in Hoppers Crossing, Victoria) is a professional Australian Trap and Double Trap clay target shooter and shooting coach. He is also an Olympic Champion. He won the Olympic gold medal in Double Trap at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He also won a silver Olympic medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Mark is a dual World Individual Champion (1994,1997) and dual World Team Champion (1998 and 1999). He won Individual World Cup Gold Medals in Los Angeles, USA (1991), Lonato, Italy (1992), Munich, Germany( 1994), Lima, Peru (1999), Sydney, Australia (2000) and Perth, Australia (2003). At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne he won a gold medal in Men's Double Trap. In August 2007 in Munich, Germany the International Shooting Sports Federation inducted him into its Hall of Fame as the greatest Double Trap shooter of all time. This was an award he shared with fellow shotgun shooters Luciano Giovannetti (Trap Men (Italy)), Kimberly Rhode (Double Trap and Skeet Women (USA)) and Susan Nattrass (Trap Women (Canada)).
In March 2009, Mark was inducted into the Australian Clay Target Association's Hall of Fame as its youngest ever member. He has been associated with the world's leading firearm manufacturer, Beretta Italy, since 1986.

Mark was educated in Ballarat, Victoria at the Brown Hill Primary School (1969 - 1974)and Ballarat East High School (1975 - 1981). He completed a Diploma of Business Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1982 - 1985).

In 2001, Mark was pre-selected as the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Ballarat.

Family

Mark is married to fellow champion shooter Lauryn Mark.

Russell Mark's career includes 2 World Championships, 6 World Cup Championships, and 2 World Team Championships as well as 39 Australian National Open Championships (current record holder). His first Open Australian Championship came in 1980 as a sixteen-year-old junior competitor in Perth where he also set a new Australian Open Record. His most recent was the 2012 National Double Trap Championship. He had a remarkable run of twenty consecutive years from 1988 to 2007 where he won at least one Australian Title each year.

With his win in Atlanta in 1996 Mark became the first shotgun shooter in the history of the sport to win all four of the world major individual titles: World Cup, World Cup Final, World Championship and Olympic Games. After the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he completed the set of silver medals in all four majors as well.

In 1997 Mark was honoured with the Order of Australia Medal for Services to Sport and won the Men's Double Trap World Championship in Peru with a new World Record.

In 2004 Mark attended the Athens Olympic Games working for the Australian Olympic Committee as an Athlete's Liaison Officer. Also during 2004 he controversially took the position as the personal coach to the Indian marksman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who went on to become India's first ever individual Olympic Medalist at the Athens Olympics by winning a silver medal.

In 2006 Mark decided to compete at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games where he finally won a Commonwealth Gold Medal. He participated in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing where he finished 5th in Olympic Men's Double Trap. He declared in 2010 that he would attempt to make his sixth Olympic games as a competitor at the 2012 London Games. On 7 June 2012, Mark made it to his sixth Olympics games, which were to be held in London.

Marks' home shooting range is the Werribee-Victorian Clay Target Club. He was made a life member of the club in 1996.

Olympic results
Event	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012
Trap (mixed)	15th 144+47	9th 144+49	Not held
Trap (men)	Not held		13th 120	13th 113	—	—	—
Double trap (men)	Not held		01 ! Gold 141+48	02 ! Silver 143+44	—	5th 136+45	20th 128