Today saw the New Zealand Shooting Para Sport Team place 5th and gain valuable World Championships experience at the World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Sydney. With 283 Para athletes competing representing 55 nations this is a highly competitive event.
Paralympian Michael Johnson (Auckland) achieved a great score of 633.2 in the R4 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 to make finals. Johnson took out 5th place in a field that saw the gold medallist Vitalii Plakushchyi from Ukraine, set new world championships record. Monday will see Mike and Natalie in pre event training for the R5 event on Tuesday.
Para athlete Natalie Brunzel (Auckland) placed 27th with 623.6 points in the R4 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 ensuring that she meets a minimum qualifying standard for New Zealand, continuing to build on her goal of being selected and competing at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. This was an outstanding performance from Brunzel who has only been involved in the sport of Shooting Para sport for less than 2 years and today being her World Championships debut.
Brunzel said, “It was so exciting to be part of and obviously nerve wracking to go into your first World Championships. However, I have enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot. Placing 27th, I’m really happy with that.“ She continued, “I was nervous, but I managed this by just looking at what I want to achieve – not the score but the learning outcomes I’m hoping to get out of this. Going forward I will also reflect on my work and training life balance. I’m so new to sport and being an athlete so I will continue to build on this.“
Para athlete Anthony (Tony) Brogden (Taumarunui) also made his World Championships debut today competing in the Shotgun PT1 – Mixed Trap SG-S. This is the first time the discipline of Para trap has been included in the World Championships competition schedule. Brogden finished in 9th place.
The New Zealand Shooting Para Sport Team will next compete on Tuesday 15 October with Michael Johnson and Natalie Brunzel in R5 Mixed 10m Air Rifle prone SH2 event.
Read this article to know more about this event and the New Zealand Shooting Para Sport Team.
Results to date include:
Day 1
- Neelam O’Neill – 50th R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle prone SH1
- Greg Reid – 51st R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle prone SH1
Day 2
- Michael Johnson – 5th R4 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2
- Natalie Brunzel – 27th R4 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2
- Anthony Brogden – 9th Shotgun PT1 – Mixed Trap SG-S MQS
