Olympic shooter says sport's future 'looms,' hopes IOC will put up a 'fight' for athletes in the future

A United States Olympic shooter is reflecting on the future of the sport following her second consecutive run at the Olympic Games.

Mary Tucker, a Florida native currently residing in the Czech Republic, qualified to represent Team USA in the Women's Air and Smallbore Rifle competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

"It's nice to come from a country that takes so much pride in sports," Tucker told Fox News Digital. "I always say that I like representing the U.S.A. because it's one of those powerhouse countries in sports, in most things, but in sports especially."

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Tucker competed in the women's 50m rifle three positions on Aug. 1, where she earned 579 points and finished in 25th place.

Team USA’s Sagen Maddalena finished in first place and qualified for the final round, where she won a silver medal.

"My career is definitely not over," Tucker said. "I definitely have quite a lot more time, in my opinion."

Tucker, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021, soared over shooting’s viewership at the 2024 Games, though she is concerned about the future of the Olympic sport.

"There is always talk of whether [shooting] is going to be taken out of the Games," she said. "That's kind of something that always looms. I think it's important for people to realize, and especially people who are fans of sports, that sport shooting and other types of shooting are fairly different."

Tucker said "it's a very safe sport" despite similarities to the basic principles.

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The West Virginia University graduate intends to focus her efforts in the near future on driving an uptick in youth involvement. At the same time, she hopes the IOC, as well as other associations and federations, will put up a fight for sports shooters.

"There are NCAA opportunities, opportunities for scholarships, for the Olympics, for traveling the world," she said.

Tucker is hopeful that a new generation of shooters becomes part of Team USA and, to crank up enthusiasm, she is launching her own coaching business in the near future.

"I have a passion for helping the next generation come up," Tucker said. "We need a lot more juniors so the sport can still grow."

Ahead of the competition in Tokyo, Tucker trained five to six hours each day, at least six days per week. For Paris 2024, she grounded her training in order to maximize a balanced life.

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In addition to shooting practice, Tucker incorporates cardio, yoga and strength training into her disciplines. More critically, she embraces a transportive mental workflow into the mix.

"It’s something you have to keep working on at all times," she said. "It’s a lot of visualization. Figuring out the range, what it will feel like, how the pressure will affect you and putting yourself in those situations in your head."

As Tucker has been nestled away in Europe, she had the opportunity last summer to shoot at the very range she competed at last week in Châteauroux, France, though the athletes were far from the 2024 Olympic festivities.

"It didn't feel like the Games to me," she said. "As unfortunate as it is, and we would love to be in the village and around the other sports, there was an element of calmness."

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Tucker, a Sarasota native, humbly believes shooting is a sport anyone can master if the motivation to explore and succeed is there.

"I could barely hit the target lying down, which is said to be the easiest position," she said.

Tucker said, as a high school athlete, she watched YouTube videos and replicated the techniques before entering into local competitions.

"I always say this is one of the sports, if not the only sport, that literally anyone can do," Tucker said. "You just really have to want to do it and have the motivation. I have horrible focus, and I am constantly moving, but I am able to stay focused for the seven seconds I need to."

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Axelrod: Harris momentum leaning heavily on ‘irrational exuberance’

Top Democratic strategist David Axelrod says Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is riding on the "irrational exuberance" of the Democratic Party following President Biden's withdrawal.

Axelrod made the statement in an interview with CNN Newsroom this weekend. Harris' campaign has surged out of the gate with record fundraising and cutting away at Trump's lead in polls.

"She has a lot of momentum, but if you do look at the polling, this is still a really tight race," he said. "This is going to be a hard fight for either side. It’s based on the numbers we’re seeing right now."

"Look, I mean, there’s a lot of irrational exuberance on the Democratic side of the aisle right now, because there was despair for some period of time about what November was gonna look like," he continued. "Now people feel like there’s a chance."

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Axelrod nevertheless argued that Trump still holds an advantage over Harris despite close polling.

"It’s absolutely Trump’s race to lose right now. He is ahead," he said. "And he is ahead in most of the battleground states. They’re close, they can be won by either candidate."

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He went on to say that everyone should remain "sober" about their chances on the Democratic side.

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Fox News polls conducted after Biden's blockbuster announcement in three of the seven crucial states – Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – indicated Trump and Harris are neck-and-neck.

Additionally, in Minnesota and New Hampshire the latest surveys suggest that Democrats are reestablishing single-digit leads with Harris at the top of the ticket. Republicans have not won a presidential election in decades in either state, but recent polls showed Trump to be very competitive with Biden.

Some pollsters argue that Harris may drop in the polls in the coming months as the shock of Biden's withdrawal wanes.

"Before long, Harris’ ‘honeymoon’ will end and voters will refocus on her role as Biden’s partner and co-pilot. As importantly, voters will also learn about Harris’ dangerously liberal record before becoming Biden’s partner," veteran GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio, who polls for the Trump campaign, predicted last month.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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Donald Trump: America has more ‘liquid gold’ under its feet than Saudi Arabia

Former President Trump vowed to make America energy-dominant on the world stage.

The 2024 Republican presidential nominee sat down for an interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures" to discuss his economic and energy policies. 

"We're going to get energy way down. Drill, baby, drill," he said. 

Trump argued that if energy prices are brought down, other problems like inflation will ease. 

When asked how his economic policy differs from Vice President Kamala Harris', he said he plans to "base it very strongly in energy."

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"We have more energy — we have more liquid gold, as I call it, under our feet than Saudi Arabia, than Russia, than anybody," he said. "We're going to be energy-dominant, we're going to make a fortune, we're going to supply it all over Europe, all over the world. We're going to be double and triple what they're doing. We're going to have tremendous energy, and we're going to lower our prices of energy."

"Do you know people in New England — they pay some of the highest prices in the world because we don't have a pipeline, because New York won't let a pipeline go through a very poor section of New York," he added. 

Trump also outlined a plan to bring back auto jobs and a tariff system to encourage the building of auto plants. 

"Those people in Michigan that love me and that I love, and they're going to give us a victory because their auto industry won't exist in two years, if she [Harris] gets elected — China is going to make, and other countries are going to make, all the cars. They're building some of the biggest auto plants."

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"By the way, when you add it all up, including the taxes and everything else, we're going to create jobs like you've never created before," he added. "If you look at auto manufacturing, it's down 64% from its high number of jobs and everything else. But we used to be the world manufacturer, and every year it gets eaten away, and a big factor is Mexico. Mexico stole 32% of our auto manufacturing. We're going to say, 'You want to do that? We're putting tariffs on your cars coming in.'"

Trump vowed he would take steps to bring back the auto industry during his first two weeks if elected.

"We're going to have more auto jobs than we've ever had, we're bringing back the automobile industry, and we're going to do that with tariffs," he added. "We're going to do that by saying we're not going to accept. I put the tariffs on Chinese cars, you know that. Now Biden wants to take the tariffs off of Chinese cars — he wants to just tax the electric car. That's not good enough. So we're going to have more auto production in the United States than we've ever had before, and it's going to happen very fast." 

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Record-breaking roller coasters that are the highest, fastest, longest, steepest, most expensive in the US

If you're looking for a thrill to top off the summer months, a ride on one of the record-breaking roller coasters in the U.S. should do the trick. 

Roller coasters around the country hold various records for their speed, drops, and height and even the cost to build them. 

Read on to discover more about a few record-breaking roller coasters in the United States you can take a spin on this summer. 

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Check out these four.

Kingda Ka, located in Jackson, New Jersey, holds multiple records in the U.S. and on a global scale. 

Kingda Ka is located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson. 

Once you're at the park, this coaster won't be difficult for you to spot, with its vibrant green track towering hundreds of feet above the ground. 

The Jersey roller coaster is not just the tallest in the country, but it's also the tallest in the world, measuring 456 feet. 

This ride starts with riders going from 1 to 128 mph in just 3.5 seconds. Its speed also makes the roller coaster the fastest in North America. 

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Before you know it, you'll be climbing up the track at a 90-degree angle. 

The way down this coaster isn't any less thrilling than the ride up. This roller coaster also features the longest drop of any coaster in the country, measuring 418 feet. 

Top Thrill 2, a roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, comes second to Kingda Ka in speed, height and drop. 

This roller coaster hits speeds of 120 mph, a height of 420 feet and a 400-foot drop. 

THIS CONNECTICUT AMUSEMENT PARK IS THE OLDEST IN THE UNITED STATES

In third place in terms of speed, height and drop is Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. This coaster gets riders hitting speeds of 100 mph. It reaches heights of 415 feet and has a long 328.1-foot drop. 

One disappointing aspect that may deter park goers from seeking thrill from roller coaster rides is waiting in line for hours for a thrill that's over in the blink of an eye. 

If you're looking for a long roller coaster, The Beast in Mason, Ohio is one you might want to check out.

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This wooden ride is the longest roller coaster in the U.S. and the longest wooden coaster in the world. 

The roller coaster is a whopping 7,361 feet long, with a ride time of over four minutes. The ride reaches heights of 110 feet and speeds of 65 mph. 

You can find The Beast at Kings Island theme park.

Other long rides include Fury 325 at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has a ride duration of three minutes, 25 seconds, and Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, which is two minutes long. 

You can ride this record-breaking coaster any time of year, rain or shine, as it is located indoors at the Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 

This family friendly theme park is home of The Shellraiser, a ride featuring the world's steepest drop at 121.5 degrees. 

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This record-breaking ride opened in October 2019. 

The park itself holds the record for the largest indoor theme park in the country.

Building a roller coaster is expensive.  

Disney is known for making attractions with stunning visuals. 

One of the theme park's newest attractions checks all the boxes as far as visual effects and thrills go, and the price tag makes it the most expensive in the world. 

Many sources estimate that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind cost $500,000 to build. 

The ride opened on May 5, 2022, and sends guests on a cinematic journey with their favorite characters from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise. 

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Harris secures enough delegates to be Democratic nominee, party says

Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough delegates to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee Friday, though voting does not close until Monday, the party's chair said.

A virtual roll call to formally nominate Harris as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee kicked off on Thursday.

"I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee," Harris said on a call with supporters.

The Democratic National Committee's electronic voting for their party's 2024 standard-bearer comes less than two weeks after President Biden, in a blockbuster announcement, ended his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president to succeed him at the top of the ticket.

Unlike the Republicans, who held their roll call in-person during their convention in Milwaukee last month, the DNC is using a virtual roll call which will conclude on Monday, two weeks ahead of the Aug. 19 start of the party's convention at the United Center in Chicago.

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But similar to the GOP nomination of former President Trump, there is no drama, as the vice president is the only candidate who qualified by a Tuesday night deadline to have her name placed on the roll call.

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Biden's disastrous performance against Trump at a late June debate that was held in Atlanta fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House.

It also spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term in the White House. 

Biden's immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders and elders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party's nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,700 convention delegates.

The DNC decided to hold a virtual roll call – which is similar to the one they held four years ago to nominate Biden amid the coronavirus pandemic – in order to formally have a nominee topping their ticket ahead of an Aug. 7 ballot access deadline in Ohio.

"Our delegates have an important responsibility – and opportunity – in the days ahead to cast their history-making ballots for Vice President Harris, ensuring that she will be on the ballot in every state this November," DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement earlier this week.

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The DNC reported that 3,923 delegates petitioned to put Harris on the ballot for the Democratic nomination, and that no other candidate met the party's threshold of 300 delegate signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

While the official nomination vote by the delegates is being held remotely, the DNC says a ceremonial roll call will be held at the convention in Chicago. 

With the nomination of Harris not in doubt, speculation has soared in the past week over whom the vice president will choose as her running mate. The Harris campaign announced that the vice president and her soon-to-be-named running mate will embark on a swing through all seven key battleground states starting Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

The running mate announcement could potentially come as early as Monday evening.

That's when it's expected Harris will be announced as the nominee, following the 6 p.m. ET conclusion of the virtual roll call. DNC rules then allow for Harris to place the name of her running mate into nomination. 

According to the DNC, the convention chair would then declare that candidate to be the party's vice presidential nominee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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Harris' vetting team privately meets with Shapiro, Kelly ahead of veep announcement: report

Vice President Kamala Harris' vetting team privately met with two top contenders to run alongside the presumptive Democratic nominee on the 2024 ticket, just days before a final decision is to be made on the vice presidential selection. 

Harris’ team reportedly met with both Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Politico reported Thursday, as the vetting process narrows the candidate field. 

Asked by Fox News Digital whether Harris' vetting team also met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, another candidate being considered for the position, the campaign remained mum.

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While several candidates remain in the pool, Harris is expected to announce her running mate as soon as Monday.

The new pair will kick off a four-day, battleground state tour with their first campaign rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Shapiro, one of her leading candidates, hails from just outside of Philadelphia in Montgomery County. 

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A vice presidential nominee has not been announced in their home state for the past several election cycles, giving rise to speculation that the Pennsylvania governor could be the favorite in the mix. 

Also on Harris' shortlist for vice president are North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Ashley Etienne, a former Harris communications director, recently told NBC News that her bet is on Kelly for the position.

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Ex-CNN host Don Lemon celebrates being free from ‘corporate overlords’ so he can openly support Kamala Harris

Don Lemon, who spent years bashing former President Trump on CNN before he was fired last year, celebrated being free from "corporate overlords" so he can formally support Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s election. 

Lemon never appeared to hide his feelings on CNN, where he compared Trump supporters to Ku Klux Klan members, laughed as a guest referred to Trump’s base as the "credulous boomer rube demo" and regularly slammed the former president. But Lemon told the "Black Men for Harris" virtual meeting that he is now free to admit his loyalties. 

"I’m happy to be in an independent space where I don’t have to worry about corporate overlords now, where I can stand up for democracy, where I can say who I’m supporting. I’m on the side of democracy," Lemon said on the virtual meeting. 

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"I’m on the side of someone who is going to help our people, I’m not on the side of Project 2025. I’m not going to pretend to put these two campaigns on equal footing," Lemon continued. "We have heard enough about Donald Trump. We’ve heard enough about MAGA."

Lemon later suggested that Trump supporters receive too much media coverage, adding, "People need to understand Black people in this election, because that's whose going to decide this election."

When the clip was shared on social media, one user joked that "it was always a real mystery which party Don Lemon was supporting." 

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Lemon was a key figure in the network’s Trump-era transition from a just-the-facts news network to partisan opinion programming. 

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Lemon compared Trump and Adolf Hitler in 2019 while arguing that such "bad people" shouldn't be given a platform. In 2020, Lemon accused then-President Trump of letting former President Obama get under his skin because he is "better looking," better educated" and has a "more accomplished" wife, in a segment that quickly went viral. 

Lemon declared in 2021, "If you voted for Trump, you voted for the person who the Klan supported. You voted for the person who Nazis support." 

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When CNN moved to a new headquarters in New York City’s swanky Hudson Yards, Lemon showed off his new digs as he fawned over the elaborate space before taking a shot at Trump. 

"The only person who could afford an apartment like this, maybe, well, it wouldn't be Trump. It would be someone who's actually a real billionaire," Lemon said. 

In 2022, he was pulled from his prestigious solo primetime gig to an ensemble morning show that struggled to find an audience and was eventually replaced. 

Lemon, who had been with CNN for 17 years, was fired by then-CNN CEO Chris Licht in 2023 after a series of gaffes and scandals. Licht was shown the door himself that same year. 

Lemon has been posting pro-Harris messages on his social media feed in recent days, referring to her as "your next president" and praising "White Dudes for Harris."

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