Despite falling short of Olympic qualification for the 2024 Games in Paris, air rifle shooter Priscilla Mburu is still optimistic about being the first Kenyan female shooter to grace the global stage at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Mburu’s ambition to compete in the Paris Games ended at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) qualification Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
There, she competed in the 50m rifle ( 3 positions) and finished in position 50 with 555 points in the elimination relay rounds.
The Kenya Police officer, pursuing an undergraduate degree in counselling psychology at Salt Lake Bible College in the US, acknowledges the setback but sees it as a stepping stone.
“My dream is to qualify for LA 2028 and I need to train hard to achieve this,” she said.
She admits the level of competition in Rio revealed gaps in her preparations.
“I was very heartbroken because I did not qualify for Paris. I realised I was not well prepared. I got my awakening in Rio because my level of competing was inferior to my opponents,” she said.
Her journey to Paris began with an IOC scholarship two years ago— a lifeline that allowed her access to critical training resources.
“Before the scholarship, I had been working with my resources until I got the scholarship,” she said.
She explained that the scholarship made things easier for her and she didn’t have to pay for the costly ammunition.
“Just imagine paying for 177 pellets at a cost of Sh2,500 for a box of 450 rounds. Mburu’s passion for shooting was ignited in 2015 after she joined the Kenya Police as a recruit.“
"My passion for shooting was born when I was a recruit in Kiganjo. I took my first shot and that felt so liberating. From that day on, I fell in love with shooting because I did well,” she said.
However, her short stature gave her complications which she says did not faze her.
“I was so tiny back then and could not handle my G3 well, which had a blowback. However, I gave it my best,” she said.
Her inaugural participation in a major championship was in 2019 at the 14th African Shooting Championships in Tipasa, Algeria.
It was, however, during last year’s edition in Cairo, Egypt, that she secured her first medals, claiming two silver medals in the 50m rifle position three and the women’s 50m rifle prone.
In the prone, she scored 585.4 points trailing Alzahraa Shaban of Egypt ( 593.4 ) and in the position three category, she scored 429.6 points behind Shaban ( 440.1 ).
“I won two silver medals in Cairo which was a huge achievement for me because in the history of shooting in Kenya, there isn’t any other female who has won a silver in a continental championship in the ISSF shooting,” she said.
To prepare for LA 2028, Mburu recently attended an intensive 18-day training camp in Sweden with Dutch national team coach Roland Steiner.
She highlighted the impact the training has had on her growth.
“He has walked me through so many things and I can say I have learnt so much in 18 days than I have learnt in the six years I have been shooting,” she said.
“I learnt it is important to have a rhythm in life when shooting. Shooting is the inner you, not hoping for a 10 point but shooting to get the 10. We worked on a short plan on how to lift my gun and approach my targets because those are aspects that matter a lot however minute they may look,” she added.
Mburu is aware of the steep challenge ahead including the complexity of earning points in rifle shooting.
“I have been shooting a score of between 618- 620 whereas shooters in Paris were doing 630- 634. It may look like a small gap but in air rifles, it is a very huge gap which can take three to four years,” she said.
“Going from 620 to 630 requires me to work way harder and smarter. I need to work on my diet, my coaching and my sleeping patterns among other things.”
“The coach thinks I am one of the fastest learners with great ambition and a chance to qualify for the Olympics.”
Looking beyond her Olympic ambitions, Mburu hopes to pave the way for the next generation of Kenyan shooters.
“When I started shooting, I did not have the direction. I want to bridge the gap between rookies and elite shooters. In the long run, I want to see shooting become as big as athletics in the country," she said.
"I want to guide children and even the youth who are interested in shooting to get to the level where we are sending more people to the Olympics in shooting.”
She hopes to take up coaching once she retires from the sport.
“I want to be a coach in future
and even one day be a shooting
judge as a way to give back to the
sport,” she said.
