Paralympian still aiming for gold

The Olympics and Paralympics may have been postponed to 2021, but Mike Johnson still has his eye on the target.

The gold medallist shooter has been busy practising at his home range in Waiuku, south of Auckland, ensuring he continues to stay on the mark for next year’s games.

He’s already qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics in three disciplines – air rifle 10m standing, 10m prone and 50m prone, the latter being a new event for him.

What started as a hobby, has turned into a full-blown career for the 46-year-old.

‘‘The good thing about doing a sport that’s also your hobby and your passion is that it makes things come easier and you enjoy what you’re doing,’’ he said.

Johnson became a tetraplegic in 1996 following a car accident. Another driver had come around a corner on the wrong side of the road, causing Johnson to swerve, skid on gravel and crash into a tree.

He now lives up the road from the accident site and drives past it a few times a week.

‘‘I broke my neck and that was it. It was a change of perspectives. The quality of life. It makes you grow up a lot,’’ he said.

‘‘I was never a person that let anything get me down or to stop me. I was still me. I still felt the same, just my mode of transport changed – I needed a wheelchair to get around and people looked at me differently.’’

He first picked up an air rifle in 2002 and not long after started competing against able-bodied athletes.

He was the first person to shoot a perfect 600 out of 600 at the Paralympics, setting a world record and claiming the gold at Athens in 2004. He followed that up with bronze in Beijing and London. Tokyo 2020 was set to be his fourth Paralympics outing.

Johnson used to practice at Ardmore shooting range, but that stopped when the range closed and went back into the New Zealand Army’s hands in 2009.

He’s had a shooting range at his

house ever since, first in a rental property, then at the property he’s built in Waiuku with his partner, Michelle.

It’s ‘‘morphed’’ over the years. I would set up in the hallway . . . shoot from the doorway, through the lounge, over the couch, past the TV, the bedroom and toilet,’’ he said.

Now, he’s got a range set up out of his garage, where he trains three times a week. He’s aiming at targets no bigger than half a millimetre in diameter, from 10 metres away. 50 metres is going to be a lot harder.

‘‘You’re aiming for a dot the size of a full stop,’’ he said.

While Johnson was disappointed the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed, he’s pleased they weren’t cancelled.

‘‘You’ve been building up for the last three to four years for this pinnacle event, there’s a real process for building up to go away,’’ he said. ‘‘We have to recalibratewhat you’re doing and focus on the next thing.’’

It gives him more time to work on the ‘‘little things’’, but in this sport it’s the little things that mean winning gold or not winning anything at all.