Sayonara Tokyo
Jasper Fellows gets the lowdown on the Olympics from Matt Coward-Holley, Team GB Trap bronze medallist, and Steven Seligmann, British Shooting’s performance director
After a year’s delay and a lot of uncertainty, Tokyo 2020 did finally take place, beginning with the opening ceremony on 23 July. “We’d been waiting five years for that moment,” said Steven Seligmann, British Shooting’s performance director. “It was a very special moment for everyone.”
“I was so happy that the Games were actually taking place,” said Team GB Trap shooter Matt Coward-Holley. “I felt very lucky to be able to compete at all.”
They were joined by the rest of Team GB’s shooting squad, Seonaid McIntosh, Kirsty Hegarty and Aaron Heading, as well as a support network of coaches and British Shooting staff. However, there was one empty seat on the plane to Tokyo.
Absentee
Amber Hill, the world-beating Ladies Skeet shooter was noticeably absent. She had tested positive for COVID-19 the night before the team departed and was unable to go.
“Amber’s test result was incredibly disappointing,” said Seligmann. “She was in phenomenal form ahead of the Games and I believe she would have had the chance to do something really special. Thankfully, Amber has a great support network around her. She’s already eyeing up the President’s Cup in a few months’ time, so I am sure we will see her back in action soon.”
Coward-Holley added: “It was devastating to lose a member of the team but, for me at least, I knew the job I had to do. We had to acknowledge it and look to the task ahead.”
And look ahead they did as a day after the opening ceremony the first shooting event, the 10m Air Rifle, took place, with Seonaid McIntosh flying the flag for Team GB in her first Olympics. This event would highlight the level of talent on show, with her score of 627.2 being only 1.3 points shy of the score needed for the finals. McIntosh eventually finished 12th overall. China’s Yang Qian would go on to claim Tokyo’s first gold medal, with an Olympic record score of 251.8.
Glued to the screens
The next event of interest for Team GB was women’s Skeet, albeit without Amber Hill. The Team GB shooters were glued to the screens at their venues for a couple of reasons. Seligmann said: “We wanted to see how the IOC and the Japanese were running their competitions.
“And secondly, we wanted to see the standard of the shooters who had made it to Tokyo. It quickly became clear that the standard was excellent, particularly in the women’s category.”
Team US dominated the Skeet. Vincent Hancock scored an Olympic record 59 in the men’s event to take gold while another Team GB Amber, Amber English, scored 56 to take the top spot in the women’s.
With the Skeet events over, Coward-Holley, Heading and Hegarty took to the stands in the individual Trap events.
Seligmann said: “The first day of qualification, which saw each athlete shoot their first three of five qualification rounds, went well. It helped us all to understand what was needed to make it into the final.
“Matt had a particularly strong first day, scoring 73/75, but still knew he had to perform well in the second. Equally, Kirsty ended the first day in a good position on 71/75, while Aaron had a bit of catching up to do as he ended his day on 69/75.”
Coward-Holley would continue his exceptional performance into the second day of qualification, where he became the only British shooter to enter an Olympic final.
“I had been fairly relaxed throughout the entire event,” he said. “The lack of a crowd made it feel like any other competition. But when the final began it suddenly hit me that this was the Olympics and that this was my chance at an Olympic medal.”
Jorge Martin Orozco Diaz of Mexico took an early lead in the final, straighting the first 19 targets in a row. “He was incredible,” said Matt. “He had won an absolute monster of a shoot-off to secure his place in the final... he was essentially the underdog of the competition and it seemed like he just couldn’t miss.”
But miss he did, eventually dropping out of the competition in the third round with a score of 28/35. This left Matt and the Czech Republic’s Jirí Lipták and David Kostelecký to fight for medal positions.
Mixed emotions
The Czech duo would shoot past Matt in the fourth round, leaving him with a score of 33/40 and the bronze, Lipták taking gold and Kostelecký silver.
“I felt a mixture of emotions as I stood on the podium,” said Coward-Holley. “To be completely honest, while I was very happy to win a medal at my first Olympic Games, I still wasn’t happy with the result. At the end of the day I didn’t go out there to win bronze.”
Seligmann had a slightly sunnier outlook on the result than the famously determined Trap star. “Matt is a unique individual; a very special individual. We all had a strong feeling that he would come away with a medal, and perhaps he made it tougher on himself because of that. He showed real resilience when it mattered, so it was awesome to see him come through with that medal.”
Coward-Holley had little chance to rest of his laurels, as he soon took to the stands alongside Kirsty Hegarty for the Trap mixed teams event.
“Kirsty and I both shot well, ending with a score of 143/150,” he commented. “Normally a score of 142 would see you through to a medal match of some sort. But the level of skill on display at the Olympics was incredible. The scores posted were simply astronomical.”
With Team US and Team Slovakia tying on 146 and Team Spain and Team San Marino both posting an incredible 148, the Team GB pair missed out on the final, in which Spain won the gold, with San Marino and the US taking silver and bronze.
The mixed team Trap event marked the end of clay shooting in Tokyo. Now all eyes turned to Seonaid McIntosh and the 50m rifle three positions competition.
She shot well through qualification to end on a score of 1,167/1,200. However, even this score would fall short of the 1,171 needed to qualify for the final, which was won by Switzerland’s Nina Christen, who shot an Olympic record-breaking score of 463.9 to secure her second medal.
Invaluable
“It quickly became clear that the standard was excellent”
“I think Seonaid came away a little disappointed with her performance, but she should be really proud,” said Seligmann. “She has gained invaluable experience that I am sure she will take with her to Paris in 2024.”
He carried this thought as he reflected on the team’s overall performance.
“Team GB’s shooters put in a reasonable performance. We took a strong team, but the competition was tough. We should be very proud of everything that we have achieved, particularly after a very challenging year,” he said.
“This was perhaps the youngest team we have even taken to the Olympics and they were all first-timers. Each of our athletes now has the chance, if they train hard enough, to go to multiple Games, and to take the experiences they gained from Japan with them. All in all, Tokyo has given us a really strong platform to build from as we look to the future and Paris 2024.” Coward-Holley is also looking ahead. “I came straight back into training after Tokyo. I’ve got the President’s Cup to look forward to this October, then back into the World Cup series at the beginning of 2022.”
So, will he be gunning for gold in Paris? “Definitely, 100%.”