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Road to the Olympics Goes Through Northumberland County

LOWER MAHANOY TOWNSHIP–A lot of concentration goes into shooting these clay pigeons. 42 athletes from around the world have one goal–shoot the targe...

LOWER MAHANOY TOWNSHIP--A lot of concentration goes into shooting these clay pigeons. 42 athletes from around the world have one goal--shoot the target every time and win the competition. This is the 2017 United States Grand Prix in Olympic Trap Shooting. The event is held at Keystone Shooting Park near Dalmatia. The event organizer says this is a building block to the Olympics.

"Everyone has their own little goals, their next stepping stone that they want to go to. So right now a lot of people are here training for the U.S. Championships," Allen Chubb said.

Some of the 42 athletes traveled a long way to get to Northumberland County.

"Been a long flight over, been over here shooting in the summer. It's winter back home so it's nice to get away from the cold weather," James Willett (Australia) said.

"We've been shooting all over the world so why not come to pennsylvania," Derek Burnett (Ireland) said.

But one man did not have to travel far. Josh Richmond is from Hillsgrove in Sullivan County.

"We're using this as somewhat of a training camp, prior to our national championships, which will be in July in Colorado Springs," Josh rRchmond said.

Richmond competed in the Olympics last year. So did several others at this event.

"I've been four times Olympian and I've won a silver at a world cup, a bronze at a world cup, and two European bronze medals," Burnett said.

"Last year I went to Rio and my goal is to make it to the next Olympics in Tokyo," Willett said.

"I won the Junior National Championships last year in 2016," Travis Old said.

This is what the athletes shoot. It's called a clay pigeon. This is exactly what they'll be shooting in the Olympic games.

The competition runs through Sunday at the Keystone Shooting Park near Dalmatia.

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