At the European Games in Krakow, two Team Ireland shooters will be in action, contesting the Clay Target events. Aoife Gormally will be competing in her second European Games in Trap Women, while Jack Fairclough will be making his European Games debut in the Skeet Men. The venue for the Games is the Wroclaw Shooting Centre, in Wroclaw, which is 270km from Krakow City.
As a sport, shooting will be the longest running sport on the European Games programme, with Irish competition focused on the 24 – 25 June (Fairclough), and the 29 – 30 June (Gormally). Trap is a single target, going away from the shooter at acute angles and heights, with two shots per target. Targets are voice activated with immediate, but random release from a computerised control box and travel 76m. Skeet is a regulated mix of single and double targets, crossing left to right and right to left in front of the shooter, with one shot per target.
From Ashbourne, Co. Meath, Gormally has been competing at the world level since 2015 and finished 7th in the 2021 European Championships. Fairclough, while living in Manchester, has roots in Greystones, Co. Wicklow. He has been competing on the world level since 2014.
TEAM IRELAND SHOOTERS:
Aoife Gormally (Ashbourne, Co. Meath) Trap Women’s
Jack Fairclough (Greystones/Manchester) Men’s Skeet
Team Ireland Chef de Mission for Krakow 2023, Gavin Noble said,
“We are delighted to once again have two shooters competing in Clay Target Shooting at the European Games. Aoife will be competing with the experience of the 2019 European Games behind her, and has the ability to finish strong in this event. We are also pleased to welcome Jack to the team, and to support his Olympic journey as part of Team Ireland.”
Team Leader for Shooting in Wroclaw is ICTSA (Irish Clay Target Shooting Association) Performance Director and Head Coach, Jeff McCready, who said,
“Aoife and Jack have worked hard to win their quota places for these Games. It was a long qualification period over five competitions, European and World Championships 2022, and three ISSF World Cups earlier this year in Morocco, Qatar and Cyprus. European are by far the strongest continent in Clay Target Shooting so Wroclaw has a very competitive field of 30 in each event. In addition to the medal competition, there is also one quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympics on offer in each event. So, this is a very important competition in the 2023 calendar. Both Aoife and Jack are delighted to have qualified and then selected to represent Team Ireland. They are both looking forward to the challenge at the Games in Poland.”
This is the latest team announcement for the European Games from Team Ireland, in the event that will see Irish athletes compete across seventeen sports. Team Ireland athletes have already been named in Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Badminton, Triathlon, Fencing, Canoeing, Cycling and Diving. More team announcements will follow over the coming weeks.