|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Human Interest | |
|---|---|
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Cessnock Pistol Club: Australia |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Trade - Toolmaker - Victoria University: Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He began going to the local pistol club with his father and his brothers. |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | US basketball player Michael Jordan. (VIS, 03 Dec 2007) |
| Ambitions | To win a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) |
| Awards and honours | In 2010, 2014 and 2015 he was named Sportsperson of the Year in Cessnock, NSW, Australia. (cessnockadvertiser.com.au, 13 May 2016) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Vladimir Galiabovitch [national] |
| Handedness | Right eye, right hand |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He took up competitive shooting at age 12. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete, Manager |
| Languages | English |
| Family | Wife Alex, daughters Zoe and Asha |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | His family. (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) |
| Other information | OLDER AND WISER He believes that as he has grown older and gained experience, he has become stronger mentally, meaning he can perform more consistently. The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will be his fifth Olympic Games. "Physically, I could shoot that perfect shot every time, but my mental game was what I struggled with most. When you're younger, it's not that you can't do it, it's just harder. When you're younger, you don't have a care in the world, so you're less focused. But as I got a little bit older, I became more switched on and that really changed my mindset. I'm a lot more focused on achieving my goals and a lot more dedicated to working on my psychological training." (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) RETIREMENT AND RETURN He retired from the sport following the 2012 Olympic Games in London, but returned after encouragement from his wife Alex. "I actually retired after London 2012 - I was finished. I wanted to focus on being a better husband, a better father and I wanted to be around for my family more. My ultimate goal had always been to win an Olympic gold medal, but I hadn't achieved that when I retired. My wife knew I wasn't done until I'd won Olympic gold, so she encouraged me to keep going so I could achieve that dream. My family has always been supportive, and nothing has ever been an issue when it comes to my shooting, and my daughters know that sometimes I'm there and sometimes I'm not, but I make sure they are always involved." (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) OCCUPATION He works as a branch manager for Double R Equipment Repairs in Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. He has also worked as a truck driver. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Aug 2021; Facebook profile, 07 Mar 2021; maitlandmercury.com.au, 09 Apr 2016) |
| Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs | He wears novelty socks chosen by his daughters when competing. "It's usually either rainbows, pink unicorns, suns or a pair with fat hippos that say, 'Dad bod'." (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Competing at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) |
| Nicknames | The Mountain (expressdigest.com, 12 Apr 2018) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "The harder you train, the better you'll be, which is right, but you also need to work on your mental approach, because if you haven't got it together mentally, you're never going to be at your best physically." (olympics.com.au, 17 Apr 2020) |