NORFOLK, Va. — After competing in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, a local man is using his grit and determination to help with a major local bridge-tunnel expansion.
He is the traffic control manager for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project and also finished in the top-10 for trap shooting at the Olympics.
Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP) Maintenance of Traffic Manager Brian Ballard said there are a lot of similarities from working on this big project to training for the Olympics.
He said you have to work with a team, be a little competitive, sometimes deal with setbacks, and of course, be dedicated to the task at hand.
Ballard has a pretty cool day job. You’ve probably seen the orange barrels and temporary barriers on the roadway as you drive across the bridge-tunnel.
Well, he’s the guy in charge of all the crews working to maintain traffic flows, but 36 years ago, he was competing in trap shooting at the Seoul Olympics.
Trap shooting is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting. The targets are launched from a single “house” or machine, generally away from the shooter, and the shooter doesn’t know which direction they are going to go in.
Ballard finished ninth in 1988 out of 74 athletes from around the world. He said the opening ceremony was the coolest part.
“When you walk into that stadium, especially as a U.S. athlete, it’s indescribable,” Ballard said.
Ballard made his first all-American team at the age of 13 and went on to make five all-American teams, then he made the U.S. Shooting Team.
He was on the team for 13 years, competing in two world championships, three Pan-Am games and made one Olympic team in 1988.
“It’s so many mixed emotions,” Ballard said. “It’s really that you’ve made it, yet you realize that you’re going to go into probably the toughest competition of your life.”
Ballard grew up in a small town in Northern Idaho and said trap opened up a lot of doors for him, so watching the games on TV now brings back a lot of memories.
“I shot the world championships in Moscow, Russia, in 1991,” Ballard said. “I’ve shot in Cuba back in the Castro-era, South America, Europe, East Asia. I’ve shot all over the world.”
A journey with a lot of milestones — making the team, training for the games, breaking a certain score. Something that translates to his day job now — helping you navigate as you drive across the HRBT.
“The dedication and the time that it takes to make that Olympic team, you just never give up,” Ballard said. “Well, it’s the same thing here, you know. We go through our struggles, tough times, things that you have to overcome, issues you have to overcome, and you never give up. You just keep pushing on. You’ll solve the problem. You’ll make it work. You work with your teammates, which is the same with the Olympic Games.”
His advice to young athletes who dream of competing in the Olympic Games?
“Anybody can do it,” Ballard said.
Ballard said he still enjoys shooting for fun, and even went on to coach after competing in the Olympics before working on several major road projects around the country.
For the latest information on the HRBT Expansion Project, click here.