Mary Tucker second Kentucky rifle team star to medal at Tokyo Olympics

Kentucky’s reigning national champion rifle team now has two Olympic medal winners on its roster.

UK star Mary Tucker, who also won individual NCAA titles in both air rifle and smallbore, paired with Lucas Kozeniesky to win the silver medal in mixed team 10-meter air rifle on Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics.

Previously, UK’s Will Shaner won the gold medal in men’s individual 10-meter air rifle. Shaner teamed with Alison Weisz for sixth in the mixed team event.

China’s Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won the mixed team 10-meter rifle gold medal, defeating Tucker and Kozeniesky 17-13. Russians Sergey Kamenskiy and Yulia Karimova won the bronze medal match 17-9 against South Korea’s Kwon Eunji Nam Taeyun.

The gold was Yang Qian’s second of this Olympics after she won the women’s individual 10-meter rifle. Yang Haoran also took the bronze in the men’s individual event.

Former Kentucky Wildcat Henrik Larsen represented Norway in the mixed team competition. He paired with Jeanette Hegg Duestad and they finished 10th.

Tucker was the fourth Kentuckian to earn a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She followed Shaner, Paul Laurence Dunbar graduate Lee Kiefer (gold in women’s individual foil fencing) and former WKU star Larissa Franklin (bronze in softball).

Earlier in these Games, Tucker finished sixth in women’s individual 10-meter air rifle. She has one more event to go, three position air rifle.

This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 3:42 AM.