She Shoots – Episode 22: Shooting Straight to the Olympics

Shannon Westlake began shooting at the age of 12 after joining Army cadets. She started shooting air rifle and smallbore, competing at local, provincial and national cadet championships. In 2001 and 2002, Shannon had the opportunity to represent Canada after earning a spot on the Cadet National Rifle team to compete in the Imperial Meeting fullbore matches held in Bisley, England.

Shannon loved shooting so much that she purchased her first fullbore rifle not long after leaving the cadet program. She competed at the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association National matches on several occasions, winning multiple short-range and mid-range matches.  She also represented Canada in Bisley, England at the NRA Imperial matches and was a member of the Canadian Team at two World Long Range Shooting Championships, in Brisbane, Australia and in Camp Perry, Ohio, USA.

To train for fullbore during the winter, Shannon began shooting both 3-position smallbore rifle and Olympic air rifle shooting. She has represented Canada in these disciplines at multiple CISM military championships, World Cups, and Pan American Games.

In 2023, Shannon won the Canadian smallbore prone championship for the second year in a row by breaking the Canadian record with a score of 628.4.  She also won the Canadian Women’s Air Rifle Championship and the Canadian Women’s 3-position Championship.

In October 2023, Shannon competed at her third Pan American Games where she won the bronze medal in the Women’s 3-position smallbore event, earning Canada a quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics.