Chloe Tipple will become the first Kiwi female sports shooter to attend three Olympic Games when she competes at Paris 2024.
It's a feat that is not lost on the 33-year-old.
"The biggest thing is, I never thought I'd be here so reaching this milestone is such a huge honour," she told 1News.
Tipple took a two-year break from the sport after she placed 27th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and only committed to a third campaign 12 months ago.
"I felt like the chapter hadn't finished, the door hadn't been closed. I really wanted closure but I just didn't know if I would mentally or emotionally be ready to come back to it because it's such a huge sacrifice in so many areas of my life.
"But I sat down with my husband and Dad in July last year and said 'I think I'm ready to go again' and they were all for it," she said.
Through her dad, her biggest supporter, she was introduced to former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka.
Tipple is confident she will bring home a medal in Paris and is content that this Olympics will be her last as she starts a family. (Source: 1News)
"Honestly, I feel like I've been injected with a super power," she said.
"I've been working with him for six months now. I feel so empowered with new tools moving forward, and we've already seen it come to fruition with the last few competitions I've done."
Tipple is confident she will bring home a medal in Paris and is content that this Olympics will be her last as she starts a family.
"This games feels so different for so many reasons. I've had a break, come back with a whole new perspective and I feel far more mature in the sport and in myself.
"I've learnt a lot about what it is I need to succeed and what it is that fills my cup and it's awesome to go having learnt all these lessons and tools from Gilbert," she said.
Her family are making the trip to France to be there for her final hurrah.
"My Dad is like the ultimate sport dad — there is nothing he wouldn't do for me to succeed in my sport. He's been by my side at nearly every national and international event I have been to over the past 13 years.
"He's also really grounded in his advice as well — I don't find it's one-sided bias cause I'm his daughter, he's such an amazing mentor."
A big driver to stay at the top of her game for so long is to shed light on what often gets "negative press".
"For me growing up in a family business involved in guns, I see a lot where there's ignorance around firearms and the place they hold around New Zealand," she said.
"First and foremost, we're a farming nation, a farming community — there are pests out there that damage the hard-earned crops we grow."
But for Tipple, shooting is also a "hugely rewarding" sport.
"You can go to a gun club and shoot with someone who is 15 or 16 and firearms licensed, or 95 and firearms licensed and still competitive in the same sport all standing in a row. Name another sport that can do that.
"It's such a fun sport and I quite often feel it gets overlooked negatively cause the huge focus is just 'guns are bad'."
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