Medal winning performances for Britain’s Paralympic shooters ahead of Games

Britain’s shooters have returned from the Slovakian Open which took place in Vistuk Slovakia from 16 to 19 July - the final competition before the Beijing Paralympics - with two gold, four silver and two bronze medals.

These performances will put Britain’s four-strong Paralympic Games shooting squad in good stead with for this summer’s Games, which are due to get under way in just over six weeks. The British squad at the event included ParalympicsGB team members Deanna Coates (Yateley, Hants), Nathan Milgate (Herne Bay, Kent), James Bevis (Hereford) and Matthew Skelhon (Peterborough) as well as Karen Butler (Bristol) and Adam Fontain (Basildon, Essex). The team was accompanied by Team Manager and Head Coach Pasan Kularatne, Technical Rifle Coach, Bernard Kooistra, Helen Alfano, Physiologist, and Christine Fontain (Support Staff).

Deanna Coates, who is set to make her seventh appearance at a Paralympic Games this summer, led the British performances, winning gold in the R2, 10m air Rifle standing SH1. She shot 394 to qualify for the finals in first place before following it up with 100.9 in the finals and won the gold medal ahead of Susan Tekin from Turkey with silver and Nadejda Vadovicova of Russia with the bronze.

The second British gold went to 20-year-old Kent athlete Milgate, who will make his Paralympic debut this summer. He shot 587 in the qualification round of the R1 10m air rifle standing SH1 to qualify for the finals in first place. He then shot 99.5 in the finals to secure the top podium finish.  Peterborough’s Matt Skelhon, another athlete set to make his Paralympic debut in Beijing, was also on fine form, winning silver behind Milgate in this event.

The third Paralympic debutant in the squad Hereford’s James Bevis took GB’s second silver medal in the R5 10m air rifle prone SH2 with a qualification score of 592 and final score of 103.6 He followed this up with a bronze in the R4 10m air rifle standing SH2 with a qualification score 581 and a final score of 102.2

There were further silver medals for Bristol’s Karen Butler, who finished second in the  R8, 50m sport rifle .22, 3 x 20 women SH1 and Adam Fontain in the R4 10m air rifle standing SH1 with a qualification score of 584 and a final score of 101.
Fontain followed this up by also winning bronze in R5 10m air rifle prone SH1 with a qualification score of 589.