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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Werribee Victorian Clay Target Club: Australia |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Business - Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology: Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Listening to music and playing golf. (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Winning gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and silver at the 2000 Games in Sydney. "When I started my career I thought just making one Olympic Games would be an achievement," he said. "To finally have won a gold medal and get to four of them [Olympic Games] is I guess probably beyond my wildest expectations." (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) |
| Famous relatives | His mother was a competitive golf player, and his wife Lauryn is an Olympic shooter.(russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010; london2012.olympics.com.au, 12 Jul 2012) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He injured his ankle playing Australian rules football and took up serious shooting around the age of 17 while he recovered. |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | His father Brian. (Atlanta Data, 15 Dec 1997) |
| Awards and honours | In 1997 he received the Order of Australia Medal for his services to sport. (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) Voted Australia Sportsperson of the Year for 1996 by the Sportsmen's Association of Australia. (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) His gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta meant he became the first shotgun shooter in the history to win all four of the world's major individual titles - the world cup, the world cup final, the world championships and the Olympic Games. His silver medal at the 2000 Games in Sydney also completed his set of silver medals from the four major events. (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Self coached |
| Coach from what year? | 2001 |
| Handedness | Right |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He began shooting at age 14. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 1985 |
| Competing for | Australia |
| Tournament | Singapore Open |
| Location | Singapore |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete, Coach |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "The trick is to perfect your technique in practice to the point where you can fool your brain with confidence that competition is also practice. The targets are exactly the same." (Australian Shooter, March 2004) |
| Other information | COACHING BUSINESS He runs a clay shooting business that hosts corporate events around Australia with his wife and shooting partner Lauryn Mark. (london2012.olympics.com.au, 07 Jun 2012, russellmark.com.au, 26 Nov 2011) BOLD BET He bet one of his friends that if his favourite Australian Rules Football [AFL] club Carlton lost to St. Kilda, he would wear a lime-green "mankini," the accessory made famous in the movie "Borat," during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Carlton lost, but it is highly unlikely he will follow through on his end of the bet. (deccanherald.com, 15 May 2012) POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS In 2001 he decided try his luck as a politician and won pre-selection for the Federal seat of Ballarat in Victoria as a member of the Liberal Party, something then Prime Minister John Howard was pleased about. "He's quite an identity in the Ballarat district as well as being a very well regarded Australian sportsman. He's a highly intelligent person. He's got quite a personality. I wish him well," Howard said. After just six months of campaigning in the marginal seat, Mark withdrew his nomination citing discontentment with the Ballarat branch of the party after his commitment to the campaign was questioned. (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) COACH He is a level two shooting coach and his vast experience allows him to travel the world to coach. His most famous student is the Prince of Brunei, who also has competed against him. (russellmark.com.au, 03 Sep 2010) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Wife Lauryn, daughter Sierra and son Indiana |