20/12 Spotlight - Shotgun Shooting
The second sport to grace the 20/12 Spotlight will be the Olympic sport of shotgun shooting whose World Cup was recently held in the UK at the Southern Counties Shooting Ground in Dorset. Below are 20 facts and 12 questions from one of Britain’s great talents in the sport.
20 Facts about Shotgun Shooting
1. The recent 2010 Shotgun Shooting World Cup held at the Southern Counties Shooting Ground was the first international shooting event to be held in the UK since 1977.
2. There are 3 categories in shooting at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games: Olympic Trap; Skeet and Double Trap.
3. At the Paris Olympics Games in 1900, live pigeons were used as moving targets. Today clay spheres are used. Clay targets are 4 inches in diameter and made from coal tar pitch and chalk.
4. Britain has produced 10 Olympic Shooting medallists. Richard Faulds who competes in Double Trap is the most recent medallist, winning Gold at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
5. Within the Trap discipline, clay targets are released from three traps located in an underground trench 15 metres away from the shooter. Each trap releases targets at differing heights and angles. The shooter has two attempts at the target. For the final round of competition the top six shooters have only one shot to hit the target.
6. For Double Trap two clay targets are released at the same time at differing angles and heights. Double trap is only contested by male shooters at ISSF competitions.
7. There were only 3 shooting events at the first summer Olympic Games in 1896. Today there are 15.
8. Clay targets can travel in excess of 55 mph - in Olympic Trap shooting this can increase to 80mph.
9. Within the discipline of Skeet shooting, competitors move through a semi-circular range with eight shooting stations. Targets are released from two traps: the high house which is approximately 10 feet from ground and low house which is only 3 feet from ground.
10. The UK’s National Shooting Centre is based in Bisley, Surrey and caters for all shooting disciplines; shotgun, rifle and pistol.
11. Founded in 1907, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the international governing body for the sport.
12. The first Shooting World Championships were held in 1897 in Lyon, France
13. Women first took part in shooting at the Mexico City Olympic Games in 1968. Men and women have been competing in separate international competitions since 1996.
14. According to IOC President Jacques Rogge, it is ‘tradition’ that shooting be the first sport to award a gold medal at the Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics the first gold was handed out to Czech Republic’s Katerina Emmons, winner of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event.
15. At the recent 2010 Shotgun World Cup held in Dorset over 45,000 clays were fired.
16. Great Britain’s future Olympic prospect, Peter Wilson (Double Trap) is coached by Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Olympic Double Trap Gold medallist at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004.
17. In Double Trap, there are 150 targets, shot in three rounds of 50. The World record stands at 147 hit targets. This was equalled by China’s Qiang Pan at the recent Shotgun Shooting World Cup in Dorset. Britain’s Richard Faulds also equalled this World Record in 2008.
18. More than 350,000 people currently practice the sport of shooting in the UK. There are many shooting clubs across the UK that cater for both novice shooters and experienced competitors. To find your local club, the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) and British Shooting have all the information for you to get started.
19. The Great Britain Shooting team will be competing at the 4th and Final stage of the World Cup series in Shotgun Shooting in Lonato, Italy 7th -16th June.
20. The Royal Artillery barracks in Woolwich, South East London has been the chosen venue for shooting at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Interview with GB shooter and 2012 medal hope Peter Wilson
1. How did you get into shooting?
A: My father got me into shooting at a very early age. I took up clay shooting as a means of brushing up my technique before the shooting season got underway. However, when I went to Millfield School I began to focus wholly on the sport. After just three months there, I dislocated my left shoulder so spent the next 12 months in rehab, during which time I shot with one arm.
2. Could you give a background into shooting and how you are involved in the sport?
A: I shoot one of the three Olympic clay target shooting disciplines known as Double Trap. Competitions are based over an entire day, shooting four schemes of 50 targets (25 pairs) equating to a potential top score of 200. There is up to a one second delay before the targets are released and in most cases people prefer to 'trick' shoot the first target by not moving their gun. Richard Faulds (GB) won the Olympics in 2000 with a score of 187 and to date, the current world record is held by a Chinese shooter Hu Binyuan with a score of 196.
3. What characteristics do you need to succeed in shooting?
A: Shooting is a mental sport, therefore you need to have the right mental temperament to execute well. Three ingredients that are most important to succeed are to keep a clear mind, be strongly dedicated and committed to training and importantly having a will to win.
4. How competitive is Great Britain in shooting?
A: The British are extremely good at Double Trap. As a squad we are a very professional outfit, with the top four in Great Britain all capable of winning abroad.
5. How do you rate GB’s hopes in the 2012 Olympics?
A: I think our chances are good across all three shooting disciplines. We have some strong young shooters who will be maturing well for 2012. Every GB athlete has 2012 in mind and shooting in front of a home crowd at the greatest sporting event in the world will only spur us on.
6. Do you get a lot of family support?
A: My parents have been fantastic, without them none of this would have been possible. I started shooting Double Trap at 19 and spent a great deal of time thereafter camped out at the Southern Counties Shooting Ground. I train on average four or five times a week, shooting up to 800 targets a day.
7. How do you stay motivated?
A: I adapt and limit training but most of all I just love winning!
8. Does your sport take you to lots of exotic places?
A: Shooting is certainly a global sport. I have been lucky enough to travel to China, Korea, India, US, Italy, Spain and the UAE to mention but a few.
9. What is the most memorable moment of your career so far?
A: Winning the 2006 Junior European Championships was a great achievement for me as I only started shooting competitively four months prior to the competition. It provided a great springboard to launch my international shooting career.
10. Do have any pre-shoot rituals?
A: Not so much now, I tend to go with the flow and just turn up and shoot. When I was young I used to, but you would find that at tournaments abroad you never necessarily had the luxury to dictate your own routine. Therefore, if you were fixed on having a particular pre-shoot build up and that didn’t happen, it would play on your mind which is not the best preparation to have, so I choose not to now.
11. What do you do in your spare time?
A: I play a lot of squash which I absolutely love. I tend to get stuck in helping out on the family farm so that provides a good reality check from being a GB International. Apart from sport, I tend to chill out and listen to a lot of drum and bass music.
12. Outside of your sport which athletes do you admire?
A: Usain Bolt; he has very much broken the mold in the 100 metres. It’s incredible to see his performances and the manner of his Olympic titles and World records. He is not just an incredible athlete but a great ambassador for his sport; he has raised the profile of athletics and international sprinting to a whole new level.
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