Rachel Tozier, a U.S. Army staff sergeant, takes aim during the second day of shooting in the Olympic women's trap on July 31, 2024, at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France. (Kulani Lakanaria/U.S. Army)

CHATEAUROUX, France — Army Staff Sgt. Rachel Tozier looks at the remaining time in her military career in terms of “quads,” or four-year Olympic cycles.

The 32-year-old soldier has about three more before military retirement. She joined the Army in March 2017 and was stationed at Fort Moore, Ga., as a member of the Army Marksmanship Unit immediately after basic training.

The women’s trap competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre reinforced this mindset. Sure, she finished 18th out of 30 competitors with 116 clays shattered, but she got a taste and wants more.

“This is going to be the goal from now until the next Games — to make the next team,” Tozier said. “And from then on, every quad until I retire.

“I got a good three quads in me, hopefully shoot the whole time through and not get stuck in an office.”

The Olympic dream began long before the Pattonsburg, Mo., native joined the Army.

Her stepfather, Monte Hoover, encouraged Tozier to learn the sport of trap shooting at the age of 12 and she enjoyed it so much she wrote down the goal of making the Olympics her senior year of high school.

So, 20 years after first picking up a gun and 14 years after making it a life goal, she accomplished it.

“This is greater than I ever could have imagined,” Tozier said of the experience. “Just being here is an honor, but to be able to compete against the best of the best in the world, it’s been the goal forever.”

As for the shooting itself, Tozier rued the first rounds on both days.

Competitors had five rounds of 25 clays apiece to hit, and their totals then decided which six advanced to the finals.

In both cases, the Central Missouri graduate missed three targets for scores of 22. She managed to bounce back Tuesday by missing just one of her final 66 shots, putting her in 12th place and two targets away from the cut line.

Wednesday morning’s 22 took her out of consideration before the final round, though.

Tozier mentioned how nerves got the best of her, but she also credited the other shooters for simply being better over the days. Eight athletes recorded totals of 120 or better, and two of them missed the final after a shootout tiebreaker.

The top six advanced to the finals.

“Even if I could have had a couple targets back, it wouldn’t have mattered,” Tozier said. “These women are shooting lights out, and they’re not missing but one or two out of 125. It’s hard to top that.”

Army Staff Sgt. Rachel Tozier enters the range during the first day of qualification in the Olympic women's trap competition on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at the Chateauroux Shooting Center in Chateauroux, France. (Joshua Schave/USA Shooting)

Rachel Tozier walks down the line during the first round of the women's trap qualification on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France. Tozier, a U.S. Army staff sergeant, finished 18th with 116 targets hit over the two days, July 30-31, and missed the cut for the finals. (Joshua Schave/USA Shooting)

Like Tozier, Army Sgt. Ivan Roe already turned the page onto the next Olympic cycle Wednesday.

In his third and final event at the Paris Olympics, Roe started off strong but faded late in the 50-meter rifle three-position qualification round. The Army Marksmanship Unit member amassed 587 points and 32 bull’s-eyes to finish 20th.

The top eight qualified for Thursday’s final.

The 28 year old sat in sixth with 198 points and 12 bull’s-eyes, but he dropped to 11th in the prone position with a 197-point performance. Needing to do well in the standing position, Roe instead struggled, starting with his practice shots that carried over with an 8.

He finished that position with a score of 192.

“I wanted (my prone score) to be a little bit higher, and I didn’t want to have to rely on standing going into it,” Roe said. “But I had to rely on it, and it was just one of those days that (my) standing (game) wasn’t there.”