Skeet champion
Cambridge teen shoots way to national gold
Madeleine Boyd came back to Canada to visit family but left as the national women’s skeet shooting champion.
The 17-year-old Cambridge native, now living in London, England, returned home to see relatives this summer but made a pit stop at the Canadian National Shooting Championships in Cookstown during her stay.
And last week, she put her sharp shooting skills on display by winning gold in the women’s skeet event.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” she said, via phone from England. “It’s amazing. I went (to the nationals) because we were there at the time. It was going to be a bit of fun but I ended up winning which was cool.”
Boyd grew up in Cambridge but has lived in London for the past seven years after her father Gary moved the family for work reasons. She took up skeet shooting about three years back and has been a regular at the National Clay Shooting Centre just outside the city ever since.
Skeet sees athletes shoot flying single and double clay targets from eight stations in a semi circle. Shooters must start with their guns down — and not mount- ed on their shoul- ders — and have about a quarter of a second to make their mark.
“Shooting is a challenge,” she said. “It’s such a mental game. You always have to be on your game if you want to do well. There is a lot of work put into it.” “It was so hot and you had to find
Boyd braced the heat to capture the crown in Cookstown. some shade to stand in,” she said. “I know it threw me off a little bit.”
The Grade 12 student kept her eyes off the running score until the end and was surprised to see her name at the top.
“I had never actually shot in Canada before so I didn’t know what the competition would be like,” she said. “It was just really cool to win it.”
Boyd only had to beat one other woman to win at the nationals but don’t let the lack of competition fool you.
The teenager has already qualified for next month’s world championships in Moscow as part of Great Britain’s junior women’s team.
One day, Boyd would like to compete at the Olympics. Though, she’s not sure which country she’d represent — Canada or England.
“That is a question I’m asked a lot,” she said.
“I’m not too sure. I’m going to the worlds representing Great Britain. That’s how it’s going now.”