Paralympian #236 Neelam O’Neill hopes to draw upon her learnings from the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to produce a performance to be proud of at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Al Ain in the UAE (25 October – 5 November).
On her Paralympic debut last year, Neelam placed tenth in the P2 Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 and 21st in the R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1, and with her pinnacle event for the 2025 campaign looming she is hopeful of a prominent showing.
“Looking back it was good to have experienced just how big a Paralympic Games can be,” she explains. “It was different to other events I’d been to previously and being part of a multi-sport event, watching team-mates compete in a range of Para sports was inspiring. The experience fuelled me for the future; to make more finals and potentially bring a medal home. It’s now about working smarter, not harder.”
Raised in Whangārei, Neelam started competitive shooting at high school but it was only after moving to Auckland for university did she discover Shooting Para sport. Making her international debut in 2014, her career has gone from strength to strength and after initially specialising in rifle, in more recent times she has also found a passion for pistol.
Neelam’s life is demanding, training roughly 20 hours a week on the range as well as maintaining her job as a banker. On top of this, she suffered a disruption to her 2025 preparations after her wheelchair broke just before Christmas last year, and she was forced to adapt her training regime for the first half of 2025.
“It was not ideal and I had to find alternative ways to train,” she explains. “I tried to shoot pistol from a normal chair by sitting on two wheelchair cushions just to try and get a similar backrest height to my normal set up. It was a real core test each time so I could only shoot about twice a week. Instead I focused on other aspects of training like strength and conditioning and using visualisation as my mental preparation.”
After re-starting training in mid-May with her pistol coach, Ricky Zhao, she made her first competitive international outing for the year in Brisbane as part of a Trans-Tasman event in July. Showing great resolve, Neelam overcame a bout of sickness to win the R3 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH1 event and finished third in the Mixed 10m Air Pistol event – an event which is normally split into Men’s P1 and Women’s P2 at internationally recognised events.
Believing she is a better Para athlete today than she was at Paris 2024, thanks to an improved mindset and greater belief in her abilities, the 33-year-old Para athlete goes into the Al Ain World Cup hoping to compete well.
“I would ideally like to make a final (top eight) in either the rifle (R3 10m Air Rifle Prone mixed SH1) or pistol (P2 10m Air Pistol Women SH1) events,” she added. “I haven’t had as much time as I would like to prepare this year, but I am tracking as well as I can be and will use the World Cup event as a stepping stone for the 2026 World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Korea and the LA28 Paralympic Games.”
Which other Kiwis are in action?
Six-time Paralympian #148 Michael Johnson MNZM also competes in the UAE hoping for a positive performance in Al Ain on his road to what would be a record-breaking seventh Paralympic Games for New Zealand at LA28. The veteran Kiwi and three-time Paralympic medallist, competes in the R4 10m Air Rifle Standing Mixed SH2, where he placed fifth at Paris 2024, and the R5 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH2 event. Lower Hutt-based Paralympian #204 Greg Reid also takes to the range in the R3 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH1.
When are the Kiwis competing? (All times NZ)
Tuesday 28 Oct (Qual and Final) – R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1
Neelam O’Neill and Greg Reid
Wednesday 29 October (Qual) and Thursday 30 October (Final at 1.45am) – R4 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2
Michael Johnson
Thursday 30 October – (Qual) and Friday 31 October (Final at 1.45am) – P2 Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1
Neelam O’Neill
Friday 31 October (Qual) and Saturday 1 November (Final at 1am) – R5 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2
Michael Johnson
For a full schedule go here.
Follow the live results here.
