As he collected dirty glasses in his local pub, Britain’s Peter Wilson contemplated giving up shooting, but coaching sessions with Dubai royalty have left the former farm hand now only picking up an Olympic gold medal.
The 25-year-old was in disbelief on Thursday as he won the men’s double trap title in front of a huge crowd at the Royal Artillery Barracks in southeast London, reminiscing about his roller-coaster journey to the top.
Crowned English, UK and European junior champion in 2006, greatness was expected from the Dorset man, but after a lean spell his funding was cut, meaning family handouts and odd jobs were required to support his career.
“That really is a tough point,” Wilson told reporters. “If you are trying to be an elite athlete and you have no one helping you financially, it is a really, really tough place to be, and you do contemplate giving up and there are lots of things you think about. I started working in a pub to try and cover my costs, and it really wasn’t possible. Late nights and early morning just destroys your shooting.”
Wilson went to the Beijing Games in 2008, but not to compete. There he bumped into Athens 2004 double trap gold medalist and a member of Dubai’s ruling family, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher Al Maktoum.
The two knew each other well from competing at tournaments and Wilson asked Al Maktoum if he would consider coaching him. The royal agreed and announced his retirement from the sport after competing in China.
“I was fortunate to get back with Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum and get back to a level where I was back on the funding program, and from there it has been an incredible journey and I have had an amazing four years, and to come up with an Olympic gold is just an amazing feeling,” Wilson said.
“[Every] February I go out to Dubai for a month and that is an opportunity to bulk train. I go out to see Ahmed and get a chance to shoot a huge amount of targets,” the Brit added, stressing he has never received any financial support from his mentor.
The hard work began to pay off this year when Wilson scored a world record at a World Cup event in Tuscon, Arizona, as he ditched his job as a farm hand driving tractors for his parents to concentrate on his Olympic ambitions.
He led throughout the final on Thursday and survived a wobble in the 21st round when he missed both targets to seal victory and Britain’s first Olympic gold in the sport for 12 years.
Not bad for the cricket and squash enthusiast, who only fell into shooting when he injured his shoulder snowboarding and could not compete in his first two loves.
“I loved shooting, but I loved cricket and I loved squash. That snowboarding accident really did stop most things for me,” he said. “I was no good at chess and no good at tiddlywinks, so sitting down and playing any of those was no good, so I ended up shooting one handed at school and that was probably, yeah, pretty fortunate. If it wasn’t for that accident I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
“My journey to this point here has been pretty lucky, I suppose. I’ve just about made it at every opportunity and capitalized on all the luck I have got,” he said.
While the funding is back and the gold medal sits around his neck, money remains an issue.
“I’d love to try and set up a business around shooting that helps me and funds me as I go through, and I’d love to be able to keep shooting, but you don’t get paid a great deal,” he said. “As fortunate as I am to get funding, you really don’t get a lot and there isn’t a massive amount in shooting.”
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS