Whitly Loper

{{short description|American sport shooter (born 1986)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| headercolor = #d09df2

| name = Whitley Loper

| imagesize =

| caption =

| fullname = Collyn Loper

| nickname =

| nationality = {{USA}}

| residence =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|12|31|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{cvt|1.64|m|order=flip}}

| weight = {{cvt|68|kg|0|order=flip}}

| website =

| country =

| sport = Shooting

| event = Trap (TR75)

| club = USA Shooting

| coach = Lloyd Woodhouse

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Women's shooting}}

{{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}}

{{MedalGold | 2003 Santo Domingo | TR75 }}

| show-medals = yes

}}

Collyn "Whitly" Loper (born December 31, 1986, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American sport shooter.{{cite sports-reference|title = Whitly Loper|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lo/whitly-loper-1.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200418061400/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lo/whitly-loper-1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = April 18, 2020|access-date = August 17, 2015}} She won a gold medal in trap shooting at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and eventually finished fourth at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, narrowly missing out an opportunity to claim an Olympic medal. Since the age of fourteen, Loper has been serving throughout her sporting career for the U.S. national team, and trains rigorously under her longtime coach Lloyd Woodhouse.{{cite web |title=ISSF Profile – Whitly Loper |url=http://www.issf-sports.org/shooters/shooter.ashx?personissfid=SHUSAW3112198601 |publisher=ISSF |accessdate=October 18, 2014}}{{cite news |first=Kris |last=Axtman |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0816/p03s01-usgn.html |title=Olympic shooter who overcame impairment |publisher=The Christian Science Monitor |date=August 16, 2004 |accessdate=August 17, 2015}} Naturally right-handed, Loper was born blind in her right eye that urged her to shoot left.{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Weir |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/athens/skill/2004-07-29-sharpshooter-loper_x.htm |title=Teen sharpshooter hits with single vision |publisher=USA Today |date=July 29, 2004 |accessdate=August 17, 2015}}

Having pursued the sport since the age of twelve, Loper started out as a successful junior with her third-place finish in the women's trap on her first major international competition at the 2001 World Championships in Cairo, Egypt.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-apr-11-sp-dogshoot11-story.html |title=This Teen Is Shooting Star |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 11, 2004 |access-date=August 17, 2015}} Two years later, Loper boasted her early success to the sport by claiming the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, finishing ahead of Canada's Cynthia Meyer by a three-point lead 87 to 84. With her noteworthy triumph, Loper also secured an Olympic berth for the U.S. shooting team.{{cite news |url=http://a.espncdn.com/oly/panam2003/s/2003/0804/1590273.html |title=Loper, who is blind in one eye, captures gold |publisher=ESPN |date=August 4, 2003 |accessdate=August 17, 2015}}

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Loper competed as the youngest member of the U.S. shooting team (aged 17) in the women's trap. Five months before the Games, Loper finished first in a grueling shoot-off against Joetta Dement at the U.S. Olympic trials in Fort Benning, Georgia to keep her own Olympic place that she obtained from the Pan American Games.{{cite news |first=Robert |last=DeWitt |url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20040428/GOA08/40428009 |title=Gunning for the Gold |publisher=The Tuscaloosa News |date=April 28, 2004 |accessdate=August 17, 2015}} As one of the possible frontrunners vying for an Olympic medal in the sporting event, Loper put up her own monumental effort with a qualifying score of 62 hits out of a possible 75 to grab the third seed in the six-woman final, but narrowly missed out on a potential medal by just one target that allowed her South Korean rival Lee Bo-na to snatch the bronze, finishing only in fourth with a total score of 82. Admittedly, Loper broke her family's promise not to take a quick glimpse of the scoreboard as a result of her medal failure.{{cite web |title=Shooting: Women's Trap Final |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/shooting/results/3532284.stm |work=Athens 2004 |publisher=BBC Sport |date=August 15, 2004 |accessdate=January 31, 2013}}{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Prater |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/athens/skill/2004-08-16-monday-shooting_x.htm |title=Loper misses target, medal; Olympic air rifle record falls |publisher=USA Today |date=August 16, 2004 |accessdate=August 17, 2015}}