PETER WILSON MBE – THE STORY OF A SHOOTING STAR
12 Apr 2013
TUESDAY 30th APRIL 2013 7 pm
British Olympic Gold Medallist, Peter Wilson MBE, will be visiting St Mary’s Calne on Tuesday 30th April 2013 to talk about his success as a Double Trap Shooter and his experiences of the 2012 London Olympics. He has kindly agreed to help support one of the school’s chosen charities, Children on the Edge, and all profits raised from entry fees and the prize raffle will go towards this fantastic cause.
Peter Wilson MBE was born in Dorset in 1986, where he was raised on his parents’ farm. Peter took up shooting following a snowboarding accident, which left him with severe nerve damage in his shoulder and unable to play squash and cricket, his previous sporting passions.
Having originally tried both Skeet and Trap Shooting, Peter was not particularly keen, but he then tried his hand at Double Trap Shooting, a talent in which he quickly flourished. Initially encouraged by his father to give competitive shooting a try, he was further inspired by Olympic coach Ian Coley at Bisley Ranges, home of the National Shooting Centre, where he trained with British shooting champions Richard Faulds and Stevan Walton. In just four months, after demonstrating considerable success in his new found sport, Peter became the 2006 European Junior Champion. In 2008, he attended the Summer Olympics in Beijing where he took part in the GB Olympic Ambition Programme, a scheme to introduce future hopefuls to the Olympic experience.
In 2009, Peter’s shooting hero Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Hasher Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s ruling family and the 2004 Olympic Double Trap gold medallist, agreed to coach him, which proved to be a life-line following the withdrawal of Peter’s funding from Sport UK due to budget cuts. Under Sheikh Ahmed’s guidance, Peter’s shooting career swiftly accelerated, winning a Team Silver at the European Shooting Championships in 2011, before securing an individual world record in Arizona by hitting 198 out of 200 clay targets in March 2012. This was shortly followed by Britain’s first shooting medal for twelve years when Peter, the youngest competitor in the Men’s Double Trap and with much of Britain willing him on, won gold at the London Olympics.
We would be delighted if you were able to join us for Peter’s talk and for drinks afterwards. If you would like to attend, please contact Mrs Kate Mastin-Lee, telephone: 01249 857200 or email: kmastin-lee@stmaryscalne.org by Monday 22nd April 2013. Entry fees will be collected on the evening: £5 for adults and £1 for children (not under the age of 11 please) and there will be a prize raffle, with all profits going towards Children on the Edge (www.childrenontheedge.org).