Olympic champion Peter Wilson believes British shooting has never been in a stronger position as they look to build towards Rio 2016.
The youngest competitor in the men’s double trap event at London, Wilson secured Great Britain’s only shooting medal at the 2012 Olympics when he claimed gold.
Seeking to build on the 27-year-old’s success, British Shooting has undertaken a system overhaul with a focus on identifying and developing future champions.
Talent pathways manager Steven Seligmann, who has been recruited to help identify, recruit and develop target shooters with potential, has introduced a new GB Academy Programme to support the next generation of Olympic medallists.
Later this year, British Shooting will also work with UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport to undertake a talent identification campaign to uncover new potential Olympic athletes in other shooting talent pools such as the non-Olympic shooting disciples.
And with promising young talent such as 2013 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Amber Hill – who last year became the youngest ever winner of a senior World Cup – already coming through, Wilson is confident further medals will arrive in Rio.
“It’s a breakthrough for British Shooting to be looking at the talent side of the sport; we’ve always had a lot of focus on the world class aspect, but nothing feeding that,” he said.
“This is really very exciting; it’s the start of a new era for British Shooting and British shooters.”
“Where we stand with our athletes; we’ve never been so strong. The future is bright for British Shooting and hopefully we can build on this with medals at the Commonwealths this year and medals in Rio in two years’ time."
© Sportsbeat 2014