British Shooting poised to build on Olympic success
British Shooting will build upon its Rio 2016 success by seeking new funding and working to create a new centre of excellence dedicated to training future Olympic competitors.
Steven Scott won an Olympic bronze medal for Team GB during Rio 2016
British Shooting, the national governing body for Olympic shooting in the UK, will build upon its Rio 2016 success by seeking new funding to improve and enhance its talent pathway and working to create a new centre of excellence dedicated to training future Olympic competitors.
Team GB shooters Ed Ling and Steve Scott brought home bronze medals, while Amber Hill and Tim Kneale made it into finals.
Performance director for British Shooting, Steven Seligman, explained that this result was greater than the one medal and one final position that had been agreed with UK Sport, the organisation responsible for investing funds into Olympic and Paralympic sports: “By winning two medals and achieving two additional finalists, British Shooting has exceeded its agreed UKSport target for Rio.
“Hopefully, by building on Peter Wilson’s success in London 2012, and now exceeding our target in Rio 2016, it will place us in a good position moving forward as we roll out our plans for Tokyo 2020 and beyond.”
All Olympic sports will be informed of their Tokyo 2020 investment from UKSport in December, and by exceeding expectations in Rio, shooters could be eligible for greater funding. British Shooting is also keen to explore other avenues of sponsorship and investment.
Shooting sports received £3,950,888 from UK Sport for Rio 2016 and Team GB won two out of 30 possible medals — making shooting the most successful sport in terms of medal return on investment.
In comparison, Team GB brought home 11 medals for cycling track, whichreceived£30,267,816and competitors benefited from the Olympic-standard facilities at the Manchester Velodrome.
Mr Seligman revealed plans for a similar centre of excellence for shooters: “Our aspiration is to have an Elite Training Centre that provides a ‘home’ for aspiring GB Olympic shooters across all disciplines. Within the Rio cycle we have been working with key stakeholders to get a home akin to the Manchester Velodrome. This would provide a world-class environment for our shooters, coaches and support staff.”
