DENTON, Texas — To most, the average Olympic athlete is likely someone in their late teens to early 20s who’s been training nonstop for most of their life to reach the top of their selective sport. Then again, there are some who will travel to Tokyo this month who have taken a slightly different path.

That’s the group you’ll find North Texan Brian Burrows in.

“That’s a bullseye, that’s a little better,” said Burrows as he tossed an axe into a large wooded target several feet away from him.

Burrows is on the USA Shooting Team for the summer games, but the 33-year-old spent the last several years building and opening his Denton axe-throwing business, Ironwood Axe Throwing, alongside his brother and wife.

He decided to take the plunge into the business after catching the axe throwing championships on ESPN a few years ago and trying the activity just one time. 

“I do go all in on things, absolutely,” said Burrows with a laugh as he recounted the story and lined up another throw.

However, he didn’t make the Olympics for axe throwing. Prior to his new career as a businessman, Burrows was an accomplished, life-long trap shooter. He said he picked the sport up as a child and, just like axe throwing, went all in on it by taking on a serious training schedule and climbing the ranks in the sport.

“I got to travel the world, I got to represent the United States at almost the highest level, the Pan-American games,” said Burrows.

He then retired from shooting, saying it just seemed like it was time to move on to his next phase in life.

“I was absolutely at peace with it,” said Burrows. “I hadn’t made the Olympic team and I was okay with that. That was the goal, that was the dream, but I had to grow up and get a real job.”

That was until about two years ago when Burrows said an old shooting coach called him up and talked him into coming back for the nationals tournament, trying out some new techniques. Burrows said he decided to do it for fun and to see his old shooting friends again.

Nationals went well, though, and Burrows qualified for the World Cup. He said he decided to just "ride the wave" and keep his mini comeback tour going until his momentum wore out, but it didn’t. He said he and a shooting partner ended up setting a new world record at one event and his success just kept going.

The wave for Burrows went all the way to the Olympic qualifiers where, after having already retired, his shooting dreams came true.

“Went from not shooting for two years, and then I made the Olympic team,” he said.

Now, Burrows is back at the range every day before he has to open up shop at the axe-throwing business. He's getting in shots by the thousands in preparation for the Tokyo games. The first-time Olympian said he couldn’t be happier with his decision to give it one last go.

“Not just because I made the Olympic team am I glad to be back in the sport, but it’s just fun to shoot and compete with my friends that I’ve had for the last 20 years,” he said.

Burrows looks forward in seeing if a gold medal is in his near future. He feels like he’s doing some of the best shooting he's done in his entire life.

He will have a bit of Lone Star backup on Team USA as men’s skeet shooter Vincent Hancock and women’s skeet shooter Austen Smith are also both from North Texas and will compete in Tokyo. Phillip Jungman from Caldwell, Texas, will also compete in men's skeet shooting.