For most 16-year-old girls, the July school holidays mean a time for shopping and catching the latest instalment of the Twilight saga. Emily Esposito is not like most 16-year-old girls.

These school holidays, she'll be at the firing range, practicing her pistol shooting. Growing up in the Western Sydney suburb of Milperra, Esposito aspired to follow in her father’s footsteps and become an Olympian. Daniel Esposito competed at the 1984 Olympic Games in Modern Pentathlon and brought his kids up competing in pentathlons.

“My sister shoots as well competing in pentathlon,” Esposito said. “My father went to the Olympics so I guess it runs in the family.”

“I went well in shooting and really enjoyed it,” Esposito said of her strength in the pentathlon discipline.

“From competing in shooting I got selected for the Australian team and it has just gone from there.”

Esposito competed in her first national shooting competition in 2008 and was competing for Australia at the International Junior Super Cup just one year later in Germany.

At the 2010 10m Air Pistol Championships, Esposito placed second in the open division with a total score of 371 – a remarkable feat for a teenager up against a field of experienced shooters.

At the same Championships, Esposito took out the Junior Pistol title with a score of 367, securing her ticket to compete at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

“When I won I didn’t even know what it meant,” Esposito said of her selection. “But when I found out and people were congratulating me, I was really surprised and happy that I won the position.”

Esposito will go to Singapore as Australia’s only female shooter, a position she is happy to fill as she strives to make it in a women’s sport that still has a low profile despite Australia’s medal success at Olympic level.

“Most people assume it is a male sport and don’t really consider females as shooters,” she said.

“Women compete at elite levels and perform as well as males or better. When people ask what sport I do, they get a shock.”

Esposito will be accompanied by her two male teammates John Coombes and Janek Janski who will compete in the air rifle and air pistol events respectively.

Coombes, 17 from Canberra and Janski, 18 from Victoria both leapt into the international spotlight this year, securing impressive placings at the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships held in India in February and later the 2010 International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Sydney.

Shooting at the Youth Olympic Games will be held at the Singapore Sports School which is located in the north-west part of Singapore.

Alice Wheeler
AOC