The aptly named Lauryn Mark will be representing Australia at the 2012 London Olympics, aiming for gold in skeet shooting.

Lauryn Mark, 32 and American-born, will be among the medal contenders in skeet shooting. She just missed out on a medal at the 2004 games in Athens.

Mark and her shooting husband Russell Mark, who will be competing in the double trap, made headlines when it was revealed the Australian Olympic Committee would not allow them to room together for the 2012 Olympics in London.

I think in our minds we just expected that if we both made the team together we would be able to stay together and that was where the initial shock came in, Lauryn Mark told AAP. My stance has not changed on that. I am disappointed, but I understand that I do need to move on now.

Russell Mark told the Australian news outlet that he believed the Olympic committee's stance was punishment for him condoning sleeping pill use among athletes and because his wife posed in a bikini in a men's magazine. You can view the provocative picture here.

With the sudden interest in Lauryn Mark, here's five things to know about the Australian skeet shooter, courtesy of the Australian Olympic Committee:

  • She's from Los Gatos, Calif. With her father an international shooting coach, Lauryn Mark began in the sport at the age of 11. In 1999, she became the youngest competitor ever to win the United States Open Women's Skeet Championships.
  • Russell Mark invited Lauryn to Australia prior to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney to try out for the U.S. Olympic Team. Despite not making the U.S. team after coming third in the Olympic trials, Mark decided to stay in Australia and changed her citizenship in 2002.
  • Mark competed for Australia in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where she became a dual gold medalist in the individual and pairs skeet events.
  • She made her Olympic debut in Athens 2004, where she competed in the individual skeet. Keeping pace with the top of the leaderboard throughout, Mark missed the shoot-off for a medal by just a single target.
  • Mark returned to defend her Commonwealth titles in 2006 in Melbourne. She successfully claimed gold in the skeet pairs event, while in a four way shoot-off for the medals in the individual she claimed silver. Mark just missed out on selection for her second Olympics in 2008 in Beijing. Lauryn and husband Russell run a corporate-team building business that gets workers out on the shooting range to test their skills taking out clay targets. They will compete at their first Olympics together in London.
Gold Commonwealth Games Silver London