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≡ SCENE & HEARD ≡
Andre Young, better known as the rapper Dr. Dre, founder of Death Row Records, was featured with Snoop Dogg, performing in the LA28 Olympic handover ceremony video shown during the closing of the Paris 2024 Games on 12 August.
Born in Compton, California, he’s fired up about the 2028 Olympic Games coming back to Southern California; he was 19 when the 1984 Olympic Games was last held in Los Angeles, about eight years before he exploded as an international hip-hop star.
He spoke with Entertainment Tonight’s Nischelle Turner last week and the subject got around to what Dr. Dre wants to try out for in 2028. The reply:
“Archery.”
Said Turner, “And you’re being serious.”
Dre, now 59, continued:
“I’m dead-ass serious. Yep. …
“I actually started playing around with archery in junior high, right. I stopped for a while and my son bought me a setup, I think, I don’t know if it was for my birthday or Father’s Day or something.
“Like that so I have it set up in my backyard and I heard that qualifying for the Olympics is 77 feet and I practice at 90. Yeah wouldn’t that be interesting to go especially with it being here in L.A. and win a gold medal. …
“I feel like I can do anything.”
What he is going to have to do is start practicing a lot more. He got the “70″ part right as far as distance goes, but Olympic archery is shot at 70 meters – not feet – or 229 feet, 8 inches, more than two-and-a-half times as far as he shoots now.
But he can get some good help. TMZ Sports spoke with U.S. star and Atlanta 1996 double gold medalist Justin Huish, who is ready to assist:
“Archery is kind of like golf; anyone can do it at any age. There’s not really an age limit. I’m going to be 50 years old next year myself and I’m still competing at a high level, and expect t give a good push here for the [2028] Games and at that point, I’ll be 53.
“So, anything can happen. We’ve had times where someone has made the team that wasn’t someone who wasn’t in the archery community in the years past.
“It really would matter would he be able to put the time and effort in fast-tracking that. There’s like a reality to shooting this sport. It’s 6-7 days a week, 6-7 hours a day endeavor to actually really get good. You could be a phenom and you don’t really know.”
Would Huish like to train him?
“100 percent. Dr. Dre, hit me up. I’ll be there. I live in SoCal. I’ll come to your house.
“I will train, I will dedicate my time to train with you. I will give you all my top sponsors, the best equipment money can buy to be an Olympic-style Recurve shooter. I can get you in contact with all of our top coaches, U.S. Olympic coaches. Anything you need. If you’re really serious about this, hit me up. We’ll make it happen.”
After his legendary Atlanta victories, Huish continued to compete, then retired for about 13 years, coming back in 2019 to try for Tokyo 2020. He just missed making the final 16, then competed for the Paris 2024 team and finished ninth overall. He plans to continue his quest to get back to the Games in 2028.
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