Shooting will again return to the main stage with the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games fast approaching. Australia will be represented by 28 shooters competing across 19 men’s and women’s events throughout seven days of action when the Games begin in April.
Proving once more that shooting is inclusive of all-ages, the Australian squad contains seven members aged 20 years or younger, including the youngest entrant, Tori Rossiter, aged 15. At the other end of the spectrum, 52-year-old David Chapman will return for his fourth Commonwealth Games alongside 55-year-old Warren Potent, both of whom won gold at the 2014 Games. Several other familiar faces will also be in attendance including Olympic gold medallist Catherine Skinner, Aislin Jones, who recently featured in The Junior Shooter, and the colorful Daniel Repacholi.
Australian Team Chef de Mission Steve Moneghetti congratulated the athletes on being included in the team. “We have some great young athletes in the shooting team and I welcome them with open arms,” Moneghetti said.
At the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Australia managed six gold medals and two bronze medals, making us the most successful shooting country. However, the pressure will be on like never before with nations such as India stepping up its shooting programs considerably since the last Games.
One event worth looking out for in particular is the Queen’s Prize discipline, which has an individual and pairs category. The historical and challenging set-up puts the spotlight on long-range shooting with competitors tested at distances from 300 to 1000 yards.
As for medals, we expect Australia to perform very strongly in the shotgun bracket where basically every participant is capable of a gold medal. We also predict our men to acquit themselves extremely well in the pistol and rifle ranks, while Elena Galiabovitch and Lalita Yauhleuskaya will be two to keep an eye on during the female pistol groupings.
The shooting timetable begins on Sunday, April 8 and will run through to Saturday, April 14. We hope official broadcaster Channel Seven shows as many shooting showdowns as possible but even if it does not, we will be bringing you the latest news and results every day so you won’t miss a thing.