Amber Rutter resets for Paris 2024 after missing Tokyo 2020 due to positive

“After testing Positive for COVID 19 last night, I will not be competing at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” posted British sport shooter Amber Rutter (nee Hill) on instagram on 21 July 2021, just two days before the opening ceremony in Japan.

“Although I have no symptoms, I will now isolate as per Government guidance and will be taking some time off to somehow begin to process everything,” she continued.

“Broken is about the only way to describe the pain I’m feeling right now.”

The devastation for the then 23-year-old, who had her bags packed ready for a 6am taxi to the airport the next morning, was all too raw.

Aiming for a second Games having come sixth at Rio 2016, this time, she was heading to the Japan Olympics as the top-ranked women’s skeet shooter.

But she didn’t even get the chance to pit herself against the world’s best. She would be staying home.

Fast forward to August 2023, and, a year out from the next Olympic Games at Paris 2024, Rutter is reaping the rewards for working hard to overcome such massive disappointment.

The now 25-year-old is heading into the 2023 World Shooting Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, taking place from 14 Aug – 1 Sept 2023 not only as world number one but also having already secured a Paris 2024 berth for Team GB courtesy of winning the 2022 European Championships Shotgun title in women’s skeet.

So how did Rutter manage to turn around such heartbreak and get ready to go again?

Shooting star

Hill’s pedigree in the sport emerged early.

Two years after being encouraged to try shooting by her grandfather, 12-year-old Rutter was selected to compete for England’s senior women’s skeet team.

The shotgun event – one of three competitive disciplines of Olympic shooting, which also includes rifle and pistol – takes place outdoors, with athletes shooting at flying targets fired from different angles and directions.

By 15, Rutter made history becoming the sport’s youngest-ever winner at the ISSF World Cup series, beating Italy’s Diana Bacosi in a shoot-off, winning 15 clays to 11, and claiming a junior world record to boot.

On her senior championship debut, Rutter became the 2015 European Champion, again beating Bacosi in a tense 30-clay shoot-off. A happy hunting ground, Rutter claimed gold in Baku, the location of this month’s world championships.

Such was her explosion onto the world scene in 2015, which also included finishing the season as the top-ranked senior for Great Britain and world ranked number five, Rutter moved beyond being known solely in the shooting community to being named the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year.

The annual festive end-of-year national sporting celebration had seen previous winners of Rutter’s title include artistic gymnast Jessica Gadirova, diver Tom Daley, and Andy Murray. The last one plays tennis a bit and would also be the flagbearer at the opening ceremony in Rio in…